


He was just one of the good guys

by Vodka_martini



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, BAMFs, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, Feels, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Het, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Physical Abuse, Schmoop, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smarm, Snark, frisk is mute, h/c, pairing - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-06-02 08:58:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 48,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6560173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vodka_martini/pseuds/Vodka_martini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been a year since The Barrier had shattered and monsters had returned to the surface from Mount Ebott. There are still racist humans who cannot bring themselves to accept monsters but Danielle Ross wasn't one of them. A heroic act had earned her the respect of the monster gang. Sans the Skeleton, however, had struck her with fear and unease. Sans was determined to prove that he wasn't all bad. And he started to fall for her. Would she let her fear of him slide and develop feelings for him? Or will she keep her distance? </p><p>A Sans from undertale and OC fanfic, featuring Papyrus, Frisk, Undyne and basically the entire monster gang.</p><p>*WARNING*<br/>Crude language, maybe smut later on.</p><p>If you would like to send me fanart or questions in regards to any of my fics, feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting references I make in my fics, informing you of new chapter updates and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Geeettt (garbage) dunked on

Danielle Ross walked the throngs of her hometown, slinging her heavy backpack onto one shoulder wearily. Her college was ways away from her shit apartment and was a pain to walk to and fro. Tuition had ended rather late, leaving her grumpy and sleepy. All she wanted to do was take a hot shower and curl up into her covers and sleep for the rest of eternity. But unfortunately, she had to do research for a thesis that was due next week. She groaned internally at the thought.

It was getting dark, and Dani looked over her shoulder anxiously. She didn't live in the greatest part of town, consequences of living off her student loan. As she walked along the sidewalk, she heard sounds coming from an alley across the street. Now the smart thing to do would be to ignore the sounds and just keep walking. But she couldn't ignore it. Not when she heard a child's scream. Dani ran across the road and peered into the alley. She saw a group of men, one of them carrying a crowbar closing upon a child wearing a striped yellow jumper who looked no more than eight.

"Dirty monster ally," the supposed leader of the group sneered at the child who was cowering in fear. "Yeah, what made you think it was a good idea to let freaks walk among us?" A henchie said. "You may be the ambassador and friend to monster kind, but you are a traitor to human kind, and you will be punished for it," the leader raised his crowbar, preparing to strike the child. "STOP!" Dani cried out rushing into the alley. "Don't you dare fucking hurt an innocent child," she said menacingly stepping towards them. There was a pause and a burst of ugly laughter erupted from the group. "Oh yeah. What are you going to do about it?" The leader of the pack said lowly as he put himself closer to her. Dani paused for a second before yanking the crowbar painfully out of his hands and whacking him across the stomach with it, causing him to stumble back and gasp for air. "You... Bitch..." He said in between gasps. "Take care of her," he snarled and his henchmen. As they charged towards her, she easily dodged the first one and swung the crowbar at his face, breaking his nose easily. She ducked a punch from the other henchman and swung the crowbar into his nether region. He fell to his knees with a scream. The third henchie stared at her with unease in his eyes. "Leave before you will really get hurt," She growled. The leader of the pack stood up, flashing her a murderous look. "You'll regret this..." He said as he left the alley with his posse in tow.

Dani sighed, the adrenaline rush dropping to a low. She remembered the child and rushed forward to greet them. "Hey, are you okay?" The child shook their head, hiding their face behind their hands. "My name is Danielle, are you hurt?" They shook their head again, a tear slipping out of the corner of their eye. "Hey hey it's okay, you're safe now those men won't be back anytime soon," Dani said hastily as she got onto a knee. She gingerly placed a hand on their shoulder and froze as she heard a deep voice rumble behind her. "Make one more move and you will have a bad time..." Her head snapped sharply over her shoulder and she came face to face with a skeleton's jaw. She froze. Her eyes flicked upward and she found herself staring into the eye sockets of that skeleton. One eye socket was pitch black whereas the other emanated a cyan-yellow light. His teeth was positioned in a dangerous grin and Dani felt really afraid. She took her hand off the child's shoulder and stood up slowly, watching his every move not to agitate him. He shrugged. "Alright, you made your decision." He flicked his wrist and Dani found herself being surrounded in blue light and swept off her feet. She tried to scream but her voice was cut off as she felt herself being flung across the width of the alley, with her back smacking against the brick wall forcefully. She tumbled to the ground but was picked up again and thrown into another wall and landed hard on a garbage can. She screamed as she felt her head crack against the wall. She rolled off the garbage can and fell limply to the ground. As she was picked up again, she heard the child's cries, signaling the skeleton to stop. He relented and set her down. Her vision began to fade but before she passed out she heard a nasally voice cry out, "SANS! I THINK THE HUMAN MIGHT BE BROKEN."

And the darkness took over.


	2. I'm not mad. I'm fucking terrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness:http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

Dani woke up to a room that wasn't her own. She sat up quickly and winced. Her back hurt like hell and her she felt the back of her head throb. The door swung open and a goat monster stepped into the room. She was an anthropomorphic goat monster with pure white fur and a warm smile. She wore a pretty purple dress and her eyes sparkled. She radiated warmth and comfort. Immediately Dani felt relaxed. "My child," the goat monster said sounding slightly distressed. She had a voice like honey. "You are in no shape to get out of bed." She rushed to Dani's side and fluffed up her pillow and set it parallel to the headboard. She placed her hands on Dani's shoulders and helped her lean back. "Hello. My name is Toriel. It is very nice to meet you." Dani's eyes widened. "You mean like, Ex-Queen of monsters Toriel? It's lovely to meet you your majesty," she said sounding flustered. Toriel let out a laugh. "No need for formalities my dear. I am simply known as Toriel. What is your name?"  
"I'm Danielle Ross. But I like people to call me Dani."  
Toriel smiled. "Very well, Dani it is then. I would like to thank you. Frisk told us how you saved them from those thugs. We are indebted to you."  
_'Wait I saved the ambassador of monsters what?!'_ Dani thought to herself in shock. But she shook her head and flashed Toriel a small smile. "It was no problem. I couldn't let someone get hurt for the sake of self-preservation." She sighed. "Well my stupid heroic act lead me to getting hurt really badly." Dani rubbed the back of her head which had begun to throb again. Toriel shook her head. "Your bravery was not stupid. Sans lost control of his temper. It wasn't your fault." Dani didn't know who this Sans dude was but she was pretty sure that she didn't want to encounter him again.

A small knock on the door had both Dani and Toriel's attention. They found the same child Dani had rescued, peeping meekly through the doorway. However when they saw that Dani was awake, their eyes lit up and they pattered into the room eagerly. The stood by the bedside and waved to Dani. She was touched by this gesture and gingerly waved back. She took the time to actually look at the child. Frisk was their name wasn't it? They had short brown hair and sallow skin. They wore a cute striped jumper and a huge smile. Dani decided she loved this cutie already. "Frisk is mute so they will be unable to communicate effectively," Toriel explained. "They can use their tablet however," at this Frisk nodded vigorously. They materialized a tablet out of seemingly nowhere and began typing furiously. Dani looked over curiously, wondering what they had to say. They thrust the tablet at her.

**'Hello! My name is Frisk! Thank you for saving me! Your name is Dani, right?? I heard you tell mom that. How are you? Are you hurting?'**

Dani laughed at the bombardment of questions. "Alright honey, one at a time. Okay firstly, yes my name is indeed Dani. I'm alright I guess and yeah I guess I'm still hurting." As soon as she mentioned that she was in pain, both Toriel and Frisk looked at each other with concern flashing over their faces. "Would you like some Golden Flower tea?" Toriel asked. Dani nodded. That sounded lovely. "Very well. Let's have Frisk keep you company till then." With that Toriel left the room quickly. Dani sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She winced again, partly from the strain and partly from her fingers getting caught in the knots of her hair. Curly hair was such a pain.  
Frisk tapped her thigh and she turned to them snapped out of her thoughts. They held the tablet in their hands and looked concerned.  
**'Are you in a lot of pain?'**  
Dani wanted to say no. That she was fine. That her back was right as rain but she couldn't bring herself lie to this child. She nodded slowly. They began to type again.  
**'Uncle Sans didn't mean to hurt you. He was scared for me. He feels terrible about what happened."**  
There was that name again. Sans. She grew more uneasy at the thought of him. She remembered that he was a skeleton and she couldn't shake off the image of his eye socket flashing cyan and yellow. She couldn't shake off how a simple flick of his wrist sent her flying back like she weighed nothing. Frisk tugged at her shirt again.  
**'Do you want to go downstairs to meet uncle Sans and Papyrus?"**  
"Papyrus?" Dani asked, confused.  
**'Uncle Sans's brother.'**  
Honestly, Dani had no desire to face Sans again. She felt her throat constrict at the thought of interacting with the monster that threw her at a wall but Frisk seemed eager for her to meet them and she simply couldn't say no. "Okay," Dani relented and Frisk jumped with glee. They tugged at her wrist and she slid out of bed slowly, careful not to strain herself. Her back hurt like anything and her head still throbbed. As she walked along the corridor, Dani observed her surroundings. The walls were a lovely lemon yellow shade and the walls were covered in drawings. She stopped to inspect one of them. It was of a skeleton wearing an orange cape, posing dramatically. _'That must be Papyrus,'_ she thought to herself. "Frisk, did you draw this?" She turned to the child.  
**'Yes, it is of Papyrus. Do you like it?'**  
Dani nodded and Frisk looked like they were on moon. This child was a sweetheart.

They came to the end of the corridor and entered the living room. It was cozy enough a fire was burning and the floor had a plush burgundy carpet that looked almost stroke-able. There were two sofas positioned at a ninety degree angle. And each sofa held a skeleton.

They appeared to be arguing about something but their bickering stopped when Frisk stepped into their line of sight. "AH! THE HUMANS ARRIVE!" The taller skeleton wearing some sort of battle armor and a flowing orange cape announced loudly. "I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! PLEASED TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE." His over the top bombastic manner put a smile on Dani's face. He seemed so cheerful it was hard to keep a sour face on. "Hi I'm Dani. It's nice to meet you too." Her eyes fell to the other skeleton that was lazily lounging on the couch and her smile fell. She gripped the hem of her shirt as her hands trembled. Sans. He was big boned, by all sense of the word and he wore a blue hoodie with a white t-shirt and basketball shorts with white stripes along the sides. His feet were adorned with white fluffy house slippers. He was watching her, the pinpricks of lights trained intensely on her. He stood up and walked over to her and flashed her an easy going grin. "Heya. I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. How ya doin?" Dani stared at him for a moment and said stiffly, "I'm fine. Thank you," Sans's grin fell momentarily but he smiled again. "That's good to hear," he said chuckling but it was obviously forced. The tension and awkwardness between them was so thick that it could've cut by a knife. However, the situation was saved when Toriel walked into the living room. She stopped short when she saw Dani standing in the living room. "My child, what are you doing out of bed? Frisk, did you bring her here?" She asked sharply. Frisk hid behind Dani's legs and shook their head. Dani laughed. "No Toriel, I asked Frisk to take me here because the bed felt a little suffocating you know? And also I do have to head home at some point so I figured if I stayed in bed any longer I'd probably never leave haha."

"Oh but would you stay a little longer? I made butterscotch pie with some healing potions to help you with your pain." Dani noticed the light  in Sans's eye sockets dimming when Toriel mentioned that she was in pain. "I'd really love to but it's really late and I have class tomorrow," Dani explained. Toriel understood and decided to pack her a slice of butterscotch pie. Papyrus and Sans offered to walk her home which she felt grateful for, at the same time uneasy because Sans. Enough said. Toriel gave her a Tupperware with the pie and her phone number. Frisk gave her a hug. Sans gave her a shit eating grin. Dani liked two out of three of those. Papyrus hoisted her backpack and they set off for her house.

On the way home Papyrus would not stop talking to Dani. He asked her about puzzles and spaghetti. She didn't have the heart to kill his buzz so she nodded and said whatever to make him happy. Sans walked alongside her, stuffing his hands in his pockets and not saying much. Dani was more than a little grateful for his lack of words. She didn't know what to say to him. _Hi there! Nice to meet you, skeleton who threw me into a wall and literally cracked my skull. Wanna go run into the sunset?!_ Honestly though she was scared to say anything that might rattle his bones for fear that he may lose his temper again. She didn't even notice the pun in her head. She felt a boney hand on her arm and snapped to attention. Sans looked at her curiously. "You okay?" She flinched at his touch and stepped back. "I'm fine don't worry. Lost in thought." She found herself nearing her apartment complex and instructed Papyrus to take a left. "I'm sorry." Dani looked up at Sans in shock. "What?"  
"I'm sorry for hurting you and for losing my temper like that without hearing you out when you actually saved the kid. It's just Frisk means a lot not just to me. To all of us and if anyone hurts the kid I swear I just see blue and want to teach them a lesson in the worst kind of way. You have every right to be mad at me. I understand."  
"Wait you think I'm mad at you?" Dani asked the skeleton incredulously.  
"You're not?" Even he sounded confused.  
"No I'm not mad at you," she paused. "I'm fucking terrified of you."

Sans stood there in shock. Conveniently they had arrived at her doorstep. She grabbed her backpack from Papyrus and turned to them. "Thanks for walking me home skelebros. I really appreciate it," she told them with a smile. "NO PROBLEM HUMAN! YOU ARE TOO KIND. I WILL GIVE YOU MY PHONE NUMBER SO WE CAN GET TOGETHER SOME DAY SOON! YOU SEEM VERY GREAT THOUGH NOT AS GREAT AS ME." Papyrus whipped out a sharpie and scrawled his number onto her palm. Dani chuckled. "Thank you Papyrus, I really appreciate the compliment. And thank you... Sans." He looked at her and shrugged. "Don't sweat it, it was no trouble." She flashed them a grateful smile again and wished them goodnight. She didn't bother changing into her pajamas or brushing her teeth. Once the door closed, she simply chucked her bag by her shoes and collapsed onto the sofa, not thinking further of today's events.


	3. He didn't laugh at the pun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

It was an hour later after Dani had been dropped off at her doorstep. Toriel had recalled Sans and Papyrus to her home, asking them about the welfare of the human. Papyrus was beginning to doze off and Sans brought him into Toriel's guest room and ad libbed a story. Once that was done, Sans sat at Toriel's dining table and stared at his thumbs in deep thought. Toriel stepped into the dining room and sat across Sans, observing him quietly. He didn't stir when she sat down. "Are you alright Sans? You're looking pretty lifeless,"  
Toriel's face fell when she noticed that Sans hadn't even recognized or acknowledged the pun she made. "You are definitely not alright. You didn't acknowledge my pun. What's bothering you?"  
Sans sighed. "I feel terrible for hurting the human. I just all I saw was blue and then I lost control."  
Toriel nodded understandingly. "Sans I'm certain she understands. Dani seems to be a lovely girl."  
"Oh she understands alright. She's now freaked out by me and thinks I'm a menace to society," he said bitterly. Toriel frowned at that. "Why would you assume that she feels that way about you. She didn't specifically state that she thinks you're a menace to society did she?"  
"No but she said, and I quote, 'I'm fucking terrified of you'. Tori, if that doesn't speak volumes then I don't know what does. It makes me feel all the more terrible."  
Toriel sighed. She could imagine how bad Sans must feel. "What do I do to prove to her that I'm not a bad person, Tori? What can I do to make up for throwing her into a wall and almost killing her?" Sans winced as that sentence left his teeth. "Wow now that I said it out loud, yeah I can see how she would be scared of me." Toriel thought for a moment and replied, "be yourself Sans. Don't lay it on overly thick. It was a mistake and you will gain that trust back eventually alright?"  
Sans nodded slowly. She nudged his shoulder gently and told him that she'd go to bed.

Sans was left at the table, thinking that he may be in and over his head when deciphering how he can possibly gain Dani's trust.


	4. Eavesdropping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

Dani opened her eyes a fraction to the sound of jackhammer. She groaned. The tenants next door were renovating their home and the jackhammer doing its thing 24/7 pissed her off to no end. She sat up and immediately winced. She forgot that she fell asleep on the couch. Damn. She rubbed at the crick in her neck. She attempted to stand up but cried out when she felt her sparks of pain shoot up her spine. Right. She forgot that a crazy skeleton threw her against a damn wall. God did it hurt like a bitch. She placed a hand on the small of her back and proceeded to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Yup coffee. Coffee solved everything. Good ol coffee. She turned on the kettle and waited for the kettle to boil. As she did, she threw open the medicine cabinet and pulled out a strip of aspirin. She popped out three pills and downed them with a glass of water. Three pills were probably going to kill her liver, she mused, but God the pain in her back was absolutely excruciating. She knew Sans didn't mean to hurt her but still. She was filled with terror thinking of what would happen if she ever pissed him off in the future, if she did encounter him again. She hoped to god she didn't. He scared the shit out if her. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the screaming kettle. She pulled out her favourite coffee mug that was pure white which simply said, 'please wait: sarcasm.exe is loading.' It never failed to make her smile. She poured in the Nescafé powder and stirred. While she single handedly did that, she multitasked easily by replying to messages she had received on her phone. She found herself being spammed by her best friend Owen.

Owen: _Heyyy Dani, meeting me at Denny's today as usual?_  
Owen: _Hey I'm here. Where are you?_  
Owen: _Oh jeez have you slept in?_  
Owen: _You rarely sleep in, you okay?_  
Owen: _Okay I'll take notes for you from your lecture today._  
Owen: _Reply me when you get the chance okay? I'm worried :(_

Her heart melted. Owen always cared deeply about her. She loved the boy to pieces. She decided to reply him.

Dani: _Hiya O! Sorry about making you worry. Wanna come over to my place later at say 5? Man have I got a lot to tell you._

She set her phone on the counter and took a sip of coffee. Ah. Cheap Nescafé. The perfect remedy to bullshit, exhaustion and life. Her phone buzzed and she saw that she got a message from Owen.

Owen: _Wow Dan. Shit went down huh? Okay do you need anything like soup or whatever?_

Dani pondered for a moment.

Dani: _Actually yeah. Could you ask Jake to pass you his Bengay muscle numbing cream? I'm in desperate need of it._

Jake was Owen's boyfriend. He was pretty chill with Dani too. They hung out sometimes but they didn't have much in common except music. He was a jock and gym-rat while Dani was a homebody. But it didn't really matter. He liked her and she liked him. That was more than enough.  
Her phone buzzed once again.

Owen: _...? Alright. Okay you're gonna have to give me context soon._  
Dani: _Will do. See you soon._  
Owen: _Okay. Bye._  
Dani: _Bye._

She sighed. She didn't have any sort of social anxiety, but it was one of those days where social interactions just drained the hell out her. She decided that she should take a shower. She figured it would probably release the tension of her muscles. She set her phone to charge and hobbled into the bathroom. She shed her clothes slowly and stepped into the chamber of crystal rain. The hot water cascaded down her body and she sighed. She infinitely felt better. As she slathered on some conditioner in her hair and attempted to brush it out, Dani yelped in pain as she brushed the bump on the back of her head. Oh yeah. Right. Crazy skeleton man gave her a mild concussion too. How could she forget? She gritted her teeth and continued to brush out the knots in her hair. Her curly hair made it impossible to go a day without a dreadful tangle.

And after thirty wonderful minutes in heaven, she finally stepped out of the shower and threw on underwear, a tank top and shorts. She wasn't leaving the house anytime soon, anyway. She plopped onto the couch and watched the television aimlessly, while awaiting Owen's arrival.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The doorbell rang and Dani opened it to a worried looking Owen. He swept her up into a big hug which she returned gratefully. She needed her best friend right now. She let him in and shut the door. Dani plopped onto the couch while Owen made himself comfortable on the armchair.  
"Spill, Dani. What happened?" He demanded.  
Dani sighed.  
"Where do I start?" She muttered.  
"How about the beginning?" Owen crossed him arms, staring at her intensely with those piercing blue eyes. She hated it when Owen did that. He was able to draw any secret out of her with just one look.  
She took a deep breath and explained what happened the previous night. Dani emphasized mainly about how she saved Frisk and about how Sans threw her around the garbage alley and the other monsters's kindness. Owen looked incredibly concerned when she voiced her fear of Sans and her injuries.

"Is that why you asked for Jake's bengay?"

"Yeah. It has skin numbing properties. It has _saved my skin_ before and I'm certain it will again." Dani shot him a smirk as Owen groaned.

"God Dan. You rarely make puns and I hate that when you do, they're godlike."

Dani chuckled. She was never one with a sense of humour. But only individuals whom are special to her are the ones who can truly bring her out of her stoic shell.

"Okay jokes aside, could you help me out with applying it on my back?"

Owen nodded. "Take off your shirt."

She slid her tank over her head, wincing slightly. If it were anyone else, she would feel self conscious as all hell. But this was Owen. Her best friend. He was also gay, so she knew he would have no ill intention. She heard his suck in a breath sharply.

"What?" She asked nervously.

"Jesus Christ, Dan it looks REALLY bad. Hang on let me show you."

He pulled out his phone and snapped a photo. He passed it to her and she gasped. Purple welts were scattered across her back like a disease that she knew would only deepen over the coming week. Against her ghostly skin they looked grotesque, but she knew she was lucky not to have her spine be shattered and be paralyzed for the rest of her life. She breathed deeply.

"Could you help me apply the cream?" She asked passing it to him.

"Okay."

She could hear the 'pop' of the cap being opened and she felt Owen's movements still behind her.

"What's wrong?"

"Can I unclasp your bra? It'll be hard to slather it all over you if it's on."  
He said nonchalantly. Dani chuckled. She would've been so embarrassed if it was any other guy who asked her of this. But man it was Owen so she didn't care.

"Knock yourself out."

He unclasped it with ease which had coloured Dani impressed.

"Wow O, straight dudes can't even undo my bra without taking like ten minutes. I'm impressed."

She could practically hear Owen smirking behind her as he squeezed the paste out of the tube. He rubbed his hands together and began to apply the cream to her bruises. She tensed up initially but sighed in relief as the numbing cream began to work its magic.

"Better?" Owen asked.

"Definitely."

Once he was done, Owen stood up wiped his hands on his jeans.

"Dan, I think you shouldn't put on your bra again for now. It'll put pressure on the area under the back of the clasp. Just wear your shirt okay?"

She nodded and slid it off her shoulders. She had a wicked idea for a moment. "Think fast!" She said, tossing it at Owen. She laughed as it smacked him across the face.

"EWWW COOTIES!!!" He squealed dramatically. She shook her head in mirth as she shrugged her tank back on slowly.

"Alright enough messing around. Can you update me on what I missed out for visuals?"

He nodded and grabbed out his beat up Lenovo and began to share his notes.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Sans hid in the shadows cast by the trees next to Dani's apartment complex. He'd been lurking around, extending his magic through the walls into her apartment so he could hear all that's been going on. He was there since morning. He wasn't being a creep or anything, he was just worried about how badly he hurt the human and was mildly concerned. Sans didn't want to knock on her door and be like, ' _yo you aight?_ ' He scared the shit out of her and he was certain she wouldn't like to see him. It seemed as though there wasn't much activity going on in the house until late morning hit. He heard a groan and immediately knew she was awake. He tensed when he heard her wince and cry out in pain. How hard did he throw her against a wall? For the rest of the morning and afternoon, all he heard was her going about doing boring mundane stuff, but with the occasional cry of pain here and there which filled Sans with more guilt than ever. However, when it hit 5 PM, that's when things got interesting.

While listening in on Dani, Sans was multitasking by half sleeping and half listening to what was going on. It was a skill he had mastered over the years. However, the sound of shuffling footsteps had brought him to full attention. He saw a man with a shock of blonde hair and pale skin approach her door. He knocked on it and Sans caught a brief glimpse of Dani as the door opened. He saw that she broke into a beaming smile when her eyes landed upon the man in front of her. Sans wondered if that was her boyfriend. He then had a realization that he was the one responsible for removing that beautiful smile off her face last night. He felt even more guilty than before and also slightly jealous of the man who was able to bring out that smile so easily, which confused him because he didn't have any grounds to be jealous of that guy.

" _Spill, Dani. What happened?"_

He heard the man ask her. He heard her take a deep breath and started to explain the events of last night. Sans found it slightly disturbing to hear the story from her point of view. He felt his soul ache when she told her friend about how fucking terrified she was of him. 'Oh my god, did I really hurt her that badly?' He thought to himself. He heard a gasp and the man say " _Jesus Christ, Dan it looks REALLY bad."_ Well that answered his question. He grimaced slightly. Jesus Christ the guilt he was feeling sucked. He was at a loss on how to make it up to her.

_"Is that why you asked for Jake's bengay?"_

_"Yeah. It has skin numbing properties. It has saved my skin before and I'm certain it will again."_

Sans smirked at the pun she made. 'That wasn't too bad,' he mused. He zoned out for a bit but was jolted back to reality when he heard the man ask to unclasp her bra. He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. His mouth dropped open in shock when Dani told him to "Knock himself out." Was that guy really her boyfriend then? He heard the sound of her bra unhooking and he felt a chill run down his spine. For some reason, that sound aroused him. Jealousy in him flared up once again. "Snap out of it, Sans," he thought to himself angrily.

_"...straight dudes can't even undo my bra without taking like ten minutes. I'm impressed."_

Sans's attention was caught? Wait does that mean that guy, Owen as Dani called him was... Gay? Sans had no issue with it but he couldn't deny that he felt a tiny bit relieved, for some odd reason. He heard her sigh in relief. Her pain must be eased a little, then. He felt slightly wistful when he heard Dani and her friend Owen play around with her bra. He loved her laugh. He wish instead of filling her with terror, he would fill her with joy. He sighed. Goddamn. When he realized that the rest of their meeting would just consist of boring tutoring, he decided to teleport out of there and into his room. He threw off his jacket and collapsed on his bed, brooding.

How on earth was he going to make it up to this girl? And why did he care so much about a girl he barely even knew?

He hoped he'd figure out those answers soon enough, before the weight of the guilt could overwhelm him...


	5. Thorn among the roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

College was a blessing. It was something that Dani would rarely say but it really was at the moment. She was kept so busy that the incident of the previous week was shoved out of her head. Well, her back ache acted as a constant reminder but that wasn't the point! Her Visual Arts and Photography project was taking up most of her time. Even though it took a fair amount of effort to hobble around, Owen and Jake helped her out by giving her a back brace and applying bengay to her back. They even set up a web cam for her during her classes so she wouldn't miss out on anything. She made them her famous lasagna to thank them.

"If this is our reward for helping you out, we are so gonna start brushing your teeth in the morning," Jake said jokingly with a wink.

She hummed a tune while sitting on her computer, editing the photos she had taken recently. Even though she couldn't head out to take photos, she made use of the things in her house. For instance, she used her pair of scuffed peach heels with red soles as her muse for a photo shoot. She had to admit, it went spectacularly. She loved to take photos. It was so fun. Photography was a way for her to capture those fleeting beautiful moments permanently. She had taken pictures of rare and beautiful moments. She had taken photos of rainbows and hurricanes. Photos of the naked trees of winter and the flush leaves of spring. The grace of the butterfly and the mystery of the bat. Dani captured everything and anything that she found beautiful. She had her photographs plastered over her walls, not for narcissistic purposes or anything. They just made her crappy apartment have a personal feel to it.

But her photography skills gave her an unfair advantage. Her selfie game was on point. She knew how to use the right filters. She knew how to hide her imperfections and spots on her face. She knew how to have her skin look radiant. Owen and Jake were hella jealous and she knew it.

As she was making her shoes look more vibrant, her phone buzzed. She rarely got texts so she was puzzled. She picked up her phone and found that it was from Toriel.

Toriel: _Hello my child. How are you doing? Anyway I just wanted you to know that we are having a little get together this weekend and I was wondering if you would like to join us? Frisk has been wanting to meet you again and would not stop talking about you to their friends. Papyrus and Sans would like to see you again as well._

Dani pursed her lips. Sans wanted to see her? Well... Fuck. She was so tempted to say, ' _nope sorry, dude who almost shattered my spine and gave me nightmares is gonna be there at arms distance and I literally might just wet myself. Hope you understand._ '

But this was Toriel. The monster who showed her kindness and literally eased her pain with her absolutely delicious, gorgeous and magical butterscotch pie. 'I wonder if she'll make that pie at the party,' she thought to herself dreamily. Then she shook her head. "God, Dani get your shit together." She said aloud. She bit her lip, in thought. She was really tempted to accept the offer but the only thing holding her back was... Sans. Dani sighed. He did apologize and he really cared about Frisk so that made him react that way. Dani wondered if her fear of him was just unreasonable. She wondered if she was overreacting. But she had a feeling that him appearing in her nightmares with his single eye socket flashing cyan and yellow coming at her would tell her that she legitimately had a reason to fear him. She sighed. She figured she should give him a second chance. Maybe he might be a great guy. How would she know if she didn't get to know him.

Dani picked up her phone and sent Toriel a quick reply.

Dani: _Hi Toriel. I am doing okay. It's nice to hear from you again. And also yes I wouldn't mind joining you for your party._

Toriel responded almost immediately after she sent the text.

Toriel: _Wonderful! It'll be lovely having you there. I'll give you the details in a moment._

Dani sighed. She had a feeling that the upcoming weekend would be... Interesting, to say the least.

 

* * *

 

It was the day of the get together. Dani usually gave no shits about anything but for some ungodly reason she felt nervous. She wanted to wear something that represented her. She didn't want to overdo herself for this. Because first impressions are the best after all. And if she dolled herself up, she figured that the others at the event might expect that of her the next round. So she stuck with her usual no makeup route, except for some subtle pink lip tint. She never left the house without any lip product on. Without lip colour, Dani looked dead. With bare lips, the zombies from the walking dead would completely overlook her, she thought. She looked through her closet. Her eyes ruled out the dresses and skirts immediately. She finally decided on wearing a pair of loose jeans with designer rips and patches with a cotton grey sweater top that was slightly thicker as it was cold out. She did, however, take some effort on her hair. She usually washed it and hoped for the best but if that was the case, then she figured she'd look like she had a bird's nest sitting atop her head. So she did wash it and added a sparing amount of Argan oil to her damp hair and simply let it to air dry. Argan oil did wonders and she hoped it would work its magic before she arrived.

She slipped on her favourite pair of navy toms that were abused and shredded but she still loved them anyway. She grabbed her phone, keys, wallet and a stick of gum and shoved them into her beat up messenger bag. She got into her car and turned up the radio, preparing for a long night.

She arrived at the address that Toriel had sent to her. It seemed to be a rather decent sized duplex house which had a log cabin sort of look to it. It looked rather cozy. She could hear laughter coming from the inside. She fiddled with the hem of her sweater, a clear indication of her moments of anxiety. She took a deep breath and knocked. Immediately the door swung open and she was greeted by a rather excited looking Papyrus.

"HELLO THERE HUMAN! YOU ARRIVE AT LAST! WE WERE ALL WONDERING IF YOU WOULD SHOW UP AT ALL!"

Dani chuckled. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Papyrus." She remembered something and quickly fished around her bag for something. "I, um, brought you guys something..." She said shyly handing him a gigantic box of Ferrero Rocher chocolate.

Papyrus's cheekbones turned a shade of orange? Was he blushing?? What?

"WOWIE HUMAN! A GIFT FOR US?! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE! I AM CERTAIN WE WOULD ALL APPRECIATE IT! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" He looked so excited that Dani couldn't help but grin back.

"Papyrus, what are you doing out there punk?" A gruff yet feminine voice called out.  
Papyrus was shoved out of the way and Dani was greeted by a fish-like humanoid monster with blue scales and a long bright red ponytail. She looked incredibly buff and ripped. She looked Dani up and down and furrowed her red eyebrows.

"Huh?! This is the one who you and the kid said beat up those thugs single-handedly? Doesn't look like it." Dani stared at her. She wondered if this fish person was implying that she was weak which made Dani's blood boil slightly.  
She noticed Frisk appearing to the fish lady's side and signing something rapidly.

"Hah! I'll believe it when I see it! Alright, human if you're as strong as they say they are you're gonna have to prove it!"

Dani lazily raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't have to prove anything to you," she said curtly. But the fish monster just laughed.

"I don't care! Here catch!" Dani had a spear thrust into her arms. She noticed the monster raising a bunch of blue spears from the ground and Dani backed up onto the lawn.

"EN GARDE!" She screamed and Dani found an arsenal of blue spears heading towards her way. Her reflexes kicked in and she batted the spears away by flicking the shaft of her spear with her wrist. The fish monster came towards her menacingly. "Not bad. But how about this?!" A couple of spears materialized from the ground underneath her and sprung upwards. Dani broke into a roll away from them and got onto one knee. More spears came flying towards her and she leapt out of the way gracefully. She felt her back ache from the act but she gritted her teeth. The back brace Owen and Jake gave her didn't make it easy for her to dodge. Dani then swept out one of her long legs towards the monster's shins which took her off her feet and she came crashing down. Dani stood up lazily, wiping the non-existent dust from her jeans. She loomed over the fallen monster and dropped the spear on the ground beside her. "I think this belongs to you," she said sardonically and the monster stared up at her, looking astonished.

Their eye contact was broken by the sound of lazy clapping and Dani turned towards it's source. She found Sans leaning against the doorway with an amused smirk while Frisk and Papyrus stood by his side, looking horrified at the whole scenario that happened before their eyes.

"What is going on here?!" A stern but familiar voice demanded. Toriel came onto the scene and gasped at sight of the many spears surrounding the two of them. "My child, are you hurt?" She asked, placing a hand on her shoulder while checking her up for any injuries. She turned towards the fish monster and placed her hands on her hips. "What is the matter with you Undyne? What were you thinking? How could you expect Dani to like us if she finds herself almost killed before she had a chance to meet us?!"

"Sorry," the monster, Undyne, said sheepishly.  
"You shouldn't be apologizing to me. You should be apologizing to her," Toriel growled, pointing towards Dani. Undyne sighed and stood up slowly. She walked towards Dani.

"I'm sorry, human for sort of attacking you that way. I'm kind of really competitive and I heard all these great things about you and I wanted to know it was true. Turns out, it really is. You're freaking amazing at fighting!" Undyne shot Dani a wink. "So could you forgive me?" Undyne asked  
"Apology accepted. I guess I'll _spear_ you from the drama." She found Undyne staring out her with a weird expression.

She turned to Toriel and the others and they were staring at her as well. Then, Sans and Toriel began to howl with laughter while Papyrus let out a groan.

"HUMAN! DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE A PUN LOVER TOO!" Dani let out a laugh.

"Don't worry Papyrus I'm not one to make puns often." Papyrus let out a sigh of relief.

"Well that certainly was something," Undyne said with a grin. "Nice to meet you, I'm Undyne," she said with her hand outstretched and Dani grasped it. "I'm Danielle Ross. But you can call me Dani."

When Toriel was done laughing, she called everyone back inside for dinner and Frisk, Papyrus and Undyne had sprinted back into the house with gusto, while Toriel followed, shaking her head at their antics. That left Sans still standing against the doorway, his hands shoved in the pockets of the same hoodie that Dani saw him wear last time round.

"That was pretty impressive kiddo," he flashed her a lazy grin. "Undyne isn't ever taken down that easily or quickly. How'd ya do it?"

Dani felt her heart beginning to beat faster but she replied with, "well I have a little something called bullshit resistance. It saves me from situations like these." She then swept into the house leaving Sans alone against the doorway and he sighed. He knew her words were targeted at him slightly and he felt a pang of guilt and sadness surge through him once again. "Come on, Sans. This is your opportunity to prove you ain't so bad. Get yourself together," he thought to himself as he shut the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

"WELCOME TO SCENIC MY HOUSE! THOUGH I GUESS IT'S TECHNICALLY SANS'S HOUSE TOO." Papyrus swept his hand out, gesturing towards the place. It looked... Interesting to say the least. It was spacious and cozy looking. Both floors were carpeted with a blue and purple design on it. The living room was accompanied with a large flat screen TV with a large green couch opposite it. The couch looked slightly lumpy. Dani made a note to self to sit on the arm of the couch whenever possible.There was also a table with with a glass fish tank containing a rock with, were those sprinkles on it?? Dani didn't bother questioning it. Beside the fish (or rock?) tank was a wooden bowl with several miscellaneous items in it such as keys, pens and lone sock. Dani assumed that was Sans's doing.

"Take a picture it'll last longer." Dani whirled around, startled to find Sans standing directly behind her. Jesus she didn't even hear him approaching her. He chuckled at her expression. "Come on kiddo, lets go get some grub." He swept his arm towards the kitchen and she headed towards said direction. The kitchen was rather spacious, with a large dining table. Papyrus and Frisk seemed to be desperately trying to reach for the box of chocolate she gave them that was held high above Toriel's head.

"TORIEL WHY CAN'T WE EAT THE CHOCOLATE FIRST?" Papyrus whined.

"You can have them later, for desert."

"JUST ONE PIECE?" He asked imploringly while Frisk nodded, shooting Toriel puppy dog eyes. Luckily, when Dani stepped onto the scene Toriel was able to break her concentration from those two. "Dani, Sans. Please, have a seat. Come on everyone, grab a piece of snail pie!" Dani took a seat in between Frisk and Undyne while Sans sat opposite her. She groaned internally. That meant he had a full view of her and she had to actually make eye contact with him when he addressed her. Toriel placed a piece of pie on her plate and she mumbled a thanks. She took her fork and grabbed a piece of the pie and shoved it in her mouth.

Dani went cross-eyed. It tasted like heaven!  
"Oh my god Toriel! This tastes absolutely wonderful!" Toriel blushed slightly. "Thank you my child! Come on everyone, let's eat before it gets cold. There's water in the jugs!"

As Dani ate, she could feel Sans's eyes watching her. She felt a tad uncomfortable and squirmed in her seat slightly. She looked up to see Sans swallow a piece of pie. She froze. How the hell was it possible for a skeleton to eat?! They didn't even have a stomach! Her gaze trailed to Papyrus and noticed him eating as well. Her head spun. Monster magic was something she was completely clueless about. Sans felt Dani staring him and looked up to see her watching Papyrus eat, a confused expression on her face. She turned away from him and met Sans's gaze and froze. He shot her a shit eating grin and a wink which prompted her to purse her lips and look down at her plate while tucking a piece of hair beneath her ears. Clearly he made her feel awkward and he internally facepalmed. 'God is there anyway I can ever not make her uncomfortable?' He thought to himself glumly.

Finally Undyne threw down her fork on the table violently and let out a rather loud burp. "That was great! Thanks Toriel!" Undyne then let out a sigh. "I wish Asgore and Alphys could be here with us tonight. "I do agree, Undyne. It is unfortunate they couldn't make it."

Dani's brows knitted together in confusion. She then felt a tug on her sweater and looked down to see Frisk holding out the tablet.

**'ASGORE IS THE KING OF MONSTERS AND ALPHYS IS UNDYNE'S GIRLFRIEND. SHE WAS THE ROYAL SCIENTIST.'**

Dani nodded understandingly. "Thanks," she whispered to them while ruffling their hair. They let out a happy giggle and she smiled. Frisk was so cute she couldn't.

"So, kiddo watcha do to pay the bills." Sans asked her.

"I'm not really working right now, I'm still living off my student loan but I'm in college at the moment, working on getting my Visual Arts degree." She told them.

"That's cool punk! So what do you do in your spare time?" Undyne asked.

"I'm really into photography. It's part of my visual arts final project which is due soon but yeah I just like going out and taking photos of absolutely anything and everything."

"WOWIE, THAT SOUNDS EXCITING HUMAN. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF US SOMEDAY," Papyrus asked eagerly. Toriel, Undyne and Frisk seemed to like the idea and Dani smiled.

"I don't see why not? It sounds like a great idea!"

There was immediately a ruckus of conversation, and signing by Frisk, about the prospect of the photoshoot.

"WOWIE! I WONDER WHAT I SHALL WEAR?!" Papyrus claimed.

"Clothes," Undyne dead panned and everyone laughed. Once the laughter died down, Sans spoke up.

"You know what's my favourite thing about photography," Sans asked Dani.

"What?"

Sans looked directly into Dani's eyes. "That it's a _developing_ art."

Dani stared at him for a heartbeat then burst into a peal of infectious laughter. "Oh my god that's good," she said wiping a tear from her eye. Sans chuckled as well while the rest of the stared at them like they were insane.

"I don't get it. What's the joke punk?!" Undyne demanded and Dani waved her off. "It's nothing. He just made a photography pun." At that Papyrus groaned.

"SANS! EVEN THOUGH I DO NOT GET THE JOKE, STOP PLAGUING OUR GUEST WITH HORRIBLE PUNS!" The rest of the room laughed.

"Oh man. I _shutter_ to think what other puns you have up your sleeve," Dani scrunched the bridge of her nose teasingly at Sans while he laughed. The rest of the night was spent with lighthearted conversation with Sans and Toriel throwing in the occasional pun which drove both Papyrus and Undyne up the wall while Dani and Frisk simply giggled at the scene.

Dani felt so comfortable while talking to them. It felt so nice. She was a little bit of a recluse where she just does her shit and only her shit. Both Owen and Jake were her only friends. These monsters made her feel so at home that she felt her cheeks warm with happiness. She liked the feeling. A lot. Finally it was time to go. She exchanged hugs with Toriel, Undyne, Frisk and Papyrus. Papyrus and Undyne practically raided her messenger bag for her phone and punched their numbers in. Sans snagged the stick of gum from her bag which led her to protest loudly while he smirked at her. She then bid them all goodbye.

"I'll walk you to your car," Sans offered and she nodded. It would've be rude of her to say no.

"Had a nice time?" He asked.

"The best!" She responded with a grin.

"I knew they'd love you," he said patting her back lightly. However his hand froze when he felt the outline of her back brace.

"Um watcha got there, kiddo?" He asked nervously.

"Oh um it's a back brace. It helps me straighten up my posture because it hurt for me to sit up because of the, um, pain I was in and it wasn't healthy for me to slouch..." She explained awkwardly while staring at her feet. She reached her car and turned to Sans.

"Thanks for walking me out, see you around?"

"Yup. See ya, kiddo."

She started up the engine and practically zoomed her way out of there. Sans watched her drive away with a sigh. Well that went as well as it could've been. He counted the fact that he made her laugh as victory but he could still sense her unease. He was now even more determined than ever, to prove that he was just one of the good guys...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It's me... Hahaha lol. Anyway something has been kinda plaguing me about like this. I'm wondering... Is like or am I over exaggerating Dani's fear of Sans? Like I mean he did kinda apologize and explained why he did it but is it unreasonable? I don't know man. I might actually have an idea to why she kinda wants to not fuck with him at all but please tell me if it really is unreasonable then I can kinda like add a new dynamic between them.  
> -Vodka_martini


	6. You're taking one down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

This is the story of Dani's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Even that was an understatement. It entails of her adventures of getting through a shitty day whereby she had to deal with assholes left and right, and where the icing of the cake was having a deranged skeleton sprain her wrist. Let us commence the story!

It all started when a creep tried to feel her up. Dani left her apartment early to grab breakfast at Denny's with Owen and Jake. She placed her bag on the table of the booth she snagged and waited in line patiently. A group of rowdy guys saddled behind her and tossed disgusting comments about what they would do to some of the customers dining there. One of the guys had his eye out for Dani. She simply stood against the glass display food case with her earphones in, zoning out. She felt a tap on her shoulder and she pulled out one of her earplugs.

"Hey babe," one of the guys said, flashing her a yellow-toothed grin. "You have gorgeous lips, but you know what would have it look better? With my cum dripping from it." His friends hollered while Dani simply pursed her lips and clenched her fists. No. She couldn't let her anger get the better of her. Not here. Not first thing in the morning.

"Aww babe what's wrong? Smile for me," his hand then trailed down back and just before he was about to grab her ass, she whirled around and twisted his arm. He yelped and she shoved him against the glass display case.

"What gives you the right to to grab at my body as if it's yours for the taking? The way you're treating women... Your mother must be ashamed of you." She shoved him backwards and he toppled against his friends.  
"You treat another woman like this, I swear Satan will have a special place for you in the depths of hell," she snarled slamming her fist against the counter. The guys flinched and high tailed out of the restaurant.

There was a pause and then she heard clapping. One of the women stood up from her seat and began to applaud her. The other women followed suit. "Oh honey, we have never seen a girl stand up to boys like that before. You're so brave!" Dani pinched the bridge of her nose. She felt a slight pressure build up at her temples. She knew she was going to have a splitting headache for the rest of the day. She shook her head in response. The lady at the cashier spoke up.

"Hey, you must be feeling slightly rattled. How about I give you a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin on the house for being awesome?" Dani nodded. As she grabbed her free order, the lady at the cashier whispered, "I know what happened has probably ruined the rest of your day but I hope this has made you feel slightly better." Dani sighed and nodded again, wordlessly. She thanked her and scurried out of the restaurant. She ran smack into Owen and Jake.

"Hey Dan wanna go..." Owen noticed her pursed lips and her shaking hands holding her muffin and coffee. "You okay?" Jake asked sounding concerned. Dani thrust the muffin to Owen and the coffee to Jake. "An asshole tried to feel me up. I defended myself. My buzz is killed and I feel like my entire day is ruined..." She muttered and Owen and Jake nodded understandingly.  
"Alright, let's head straight to class okay?" Owen said carefully. He knew not to push her buttons when she was in this state. It would only end badly. So she pushed her way through them and strode down the sidewalk. Jake and Owen looked at each other knowingly. No one deserved to start the day like this. They hoped it would get only get better...

 

* * *

 

It didn't get any better. It got worse in fact. Her visual arts professor looked at her photoshoot with her shoes and practically spat at it.

"Ross, your photos are no different from Louis Vuitton ads. This kind of thing is not suitable for a future Bachelor of Fine Arts. This is anything BUT original."

"I'm sorry, sir but having my spine almost shattered had me slightly incapacitated," she retorted. "I apologize for being injured and screaming in pain every time I moved! I had to make the best of what I had, _sir_." She spat out the word, her dark brown eyes making direct eye contact with her professor's.

"Your best isn't good enough! I want you to take photo after photo until ONE of them doesn't look like shit. Since you're fine and right as rain, you don't have any excuse for being substandard like you always are."

Dani stared at him, stunned. She was his best student but still he hated her. She was one of the best photographers in her class yet, he constantly treated her like dirt. The rest of the class looked horrified. All of them went to Dani and not their professor for photography advice. She was twice the photographer any of them were. How could their Professor say that? She felt her palms starting to sweat and her migraine beginning to worsen. Before she punched her professor in the face, she shoved her folder of photos into her messenger bag and slung her camera bag over her shoulder. She stood up quickly and walked to the entrance of the class.

"Where do you think you're going?" Her professor demanded. She stopped in her tracks and turned around sharply. She simply flipped him the bird and slammed the door behind her as she left. She heard one of the students say, "sir, you're killing her. Stop this..."

She ran out of her campus, feeling angry tears build up behind her eyelids. Honestly, Dani was sick of life throwing shit at her everyday of her life. She hated it. She became numb to it but goddammit when it hurt, it really hurt. Bullshit resistance wasn't going to get help her through today, she knew.

She slowed to a stop when she felt her lungs scream with exhaustion. She panted slightly and found herself standing in the middle of the local park. Her eyes widened in surprise. Her campus was a good ways away from the park so the distance she took surprised her. She slumped onto a park bench and hung her head low, her hair tickling her knees slightly. Her head pounded and her throat felt dry. All she wanted was to just sit on the damn bench and have a barrier around her so no one would bother her. She hoped people got the hint not to bother her because... Well, their safety might be potentially compromised.

She heard thump and looked to her right. She found a UFO shaped monster with long, narrow arms sitting next to her, staring at her.

"I'm Jerry. Everybody knows me," he proclaimed arrogantly. Dani chose to ignore him. When she didn't respond, Jerry knocked her bag off the bench and her folder with her photos. They scattered to the ground with a sad poof.

"Get your own bench, twerp." He sneered at her. Dani stared at the photos on the ground. That's where they truly belonged. On the ground where people could walk all over them without a care. They were that shit apparently.

"So, like, what are you even doing?" Jerry asked. Her feelings of self-pity vanished as soon as she heard his voice address her. She started to get pissed off. Uh oh. That was a dangerous sign. _'Control yourself. Control yourself.'_ Dani gritted her teeth and refused to respond. She didn't even look at Jerry. She just stared at the photos on the ground. However, the longer she looked at them, the wave of self pity crashed into her harder and harder. Her eyes began to burn again. She blinked rapidly to clear them.

"Why are you doing this? What a fail." Dani's head turned towards Jerry as he announced those words. The hurt stung even more than ever. An absolute stranger who didn't know her, even thought she was a failure. That was confirmation right there.

"Yeah you're right..." She mumbled. "I am a failure. I am a screw up..."

"SHH! I'm THINKING!" Jerry screeched at her. He then eats powdery food and licks his hands loudly. She stared at him. Could this monster get anymore annoying and obnoxious? Jerry then sneezed without covering his nose. Yeah he definitely could get more obnoxious.

She sighed and got off the bench and started to slowly pick up the photos from the ground. "It's COLD." Jerry whined. When Dani refused to listen he yelled, "Does ANYONE care?!" Dani flinched and dropped the photos on the ground as Jerry proceeded to laugh at her. "Man, you SUCK at this." He taunted. That was it. The feeling of self pity vanished as something inside her snapped.

"Shut. The. Hell. Up and leave me alone" She said lowly. All Jerry did was laugh once again. "Hahaha! You SUCK!"

"LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" Dani screamed. She had enough of this. He taunted her and played on her fears and insecurities. She was tired of it. Jerry scrambled backwards and fell off the bench. "Awkwarrrd," he drawled out. "Well, can YOU give me a ride home?"  
"FUCK OFF!" She shouted, throwing her messenger bag onto the ground. Jerry just stared at her and then walked away mumbling some nonsense.

Once he was out of earshot, Dani collapsed back onto the bench, adjusting her camera bag on her shoulder. She was relieved that she wasn't stupid enough to throw it onto the ground. Her messenger bag took the brunt of her anger. It always did. She didn't carry it out often but when she did, it had a tendency to be abused by her. She picked it up and carefully brushed the dirt off of it. She fingered the tears and patches on the side of it. It meant a lot to her and she hated that she never kept it pristine or cared for it. She was tempted to keep it up onto a shelf and preserve it but she realized that it defeated the purpose of the bag. So she carried it around if she had light classes that day or had to meet up with someone. She usually just carried her backpack to class but today she simply didn't want the weight on her back. So her poor, dear bag suffered through her shit.  
"If you could talk, would you scream?" She asked the bag. Of course it didn't fucking respond. If it did, then she would've been very concerned.

"HUMAN!" A nasally voice proclaimed.  
'Fan-fucking-tastic,' she thought to herself. Papyrus bounded towards her eagerly.

"HELLO THERE HUMAN," he cried out, a little too loudly for Dani's liking.

"Hey there Papyrus," she mumbled softly.

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME OVER TO OUR PLACE ONCE AGAIN FOR SPAGHETTI?! I SEE YOU ARE FREE NOW AND YOU WOULDN'T HESITATE TO HANG OUT WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS NYEH HEH HEH!" He swept his cape behind him proudly.

"Actually, Papyrus I was just about to leave I can't..." But Papyrus didn't listen to her. He grabbed at her arm and started to drag her away from the bench. "Wait!" She cried out. Her messenger bag was left behind. She tried to pull free from his grip but it was way too tight. "Stop!" He didn't listen to her.

"STOP!" Papyrus did as he was told. "I don't want to come over to your place to eat spaghetti. Leave me alone! I don't want to do anything with you right now!" She was fuming. But as soon as those words tumbled from her lips, the hurt expression Papyrus wore made her feel like the scum of the earth.

"How about next week," she said softly. "I am not feeling so good today Papyrus..." Papyrus's eyes lit up when she agreed to hang out but looked concerned when she said she was ill.

"HUMAN! ARE YOU SURE YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE TORIEL? SHE CAN USE HER HEALING MAGIC ON YOU."

She gave him a soft smile. "I don't think magic can help me with this one buddy..." She looked at her shoes awkwardly then back at him. "I have to go now. I promise I will meet up for spaghetti next week okay?" Papyrus nodded eagerly. "SPLENDID! IT IS A DATE THEN! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" He sped off and Dani didn't bother arguing with him. She turned back towards the bench and collected her folder and messenger bag. Some of the photos were stained with mud and dirt from when that asshole Jerry knocked them over but she didn't seem too bothered. They were horrible anyway. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans and headed her way home.

"You sure did save it at the end, kiddo." Dani stopped in her tracks and turned around. She found Sans leaning against a tree trunk with a lazy grin plastered on his face. "You could have hurt my bro's feelings pretty bad, ya know."

"Yeah I know, what's it to you?" Seeing Sans made her day infinitely worse. She didn't want to deal with him at the moment. She just wanted to go home. Maybe cry. The world was her oyster, after all.

"He's my bro, that's what it is to me." Sans walked over to her. "I won't tolerate anyone hurting him and getting away with it." His eyes flashed at her dangerously. "Don't EVER talk to him like that again."

"Mind your own fucking business," she snapped. The gall of this guy. His intentions may have been noble as shit but right now he could go piss in the wind. She turned away from him and started to walk away. However, she was stopped in her tracks as she felt skeletal fingers clamp down on her wrist. She whirled around. "What are you doing? Let me go!" She tugged at her arm but his grip was like iron.

"I can't mind my own business, not when it concerns Papyrus. He's too innocent and naive. You don't have the right to throw shit at him." His grip tightened even further.

"Leave me alone! I can do whatever the fuck I want I'm an adult! I don't care he should go take a goddamn hint when someone is clearly not interested!" That did it for Sans. He twisted her wrist and she cried out in pain.  
"Sorry, but you're going to have to check that attitude of yours before you go around ruining people's day." Dani stared at him. She did the logical thing anyone wouldn't do. She slapped him.

The sound of flesh against bone resonated through the empty park. Sans stepped back, startled.

"What about my day then?! You're so up your own ass about Papyrus that do you not care about anyone else?! Sans, you think you're some goddamn angel who's oh so selfless when you're a SELFISH BASTARD." At this point angry tears were rolling down her face. She tried to move a strand of hair from her face but screamed as she felt her wrist flare up in pain.

"Are you..." He took a step towards her but she recoiled slightly. "Stay away from me! Haven't you done enough?" He saw her cradle her wrist and what he had done had finally dawned on him. "Oh my god I am so sorry I didn't mean to..." She simply turned away from him and began to run away. He heard loud sobs fading away with each step he took.

And at that moment, Sans knew, he royally fucked up.

Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Vodka_martini here! Haha I'm so glad I made Jerry an asshole. Everyone hates Jerry. But I felt like I made Papyrus and Sans OOC in this chapter. And if you felt like they were OOC, please tell me and I'll do my best to change it. Have a good one!


	7. It's my own remorse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

Sans stared after Dani, feeling absolutely horrified. He couldn't believe he twisted her wrist. He ran a hand over his skull trying to process the situation. Basically, Papyrus had asked if she wanted to have spaghetti with him but she just basically in kinder words told him, "fuck off." And Papyrus was hurt but she said she'd do it with him next week and Papyrus was all smiles after that. Sans was anything but. The fact that she would be such a bitch to Papyrus without a care pissed him off.

People have walked all over Papyrus just because he was innocent and naive. A homeless guy had once asked him if he could "borrow" his phone and Papyrus had happily obliged. The guy, as one would do, got out of dodge and Papyrus had stood there, waiting for him to politely return his phone. Sans had found him and told Papyrus that the guy had broke his phone but was too embarrassed to return back to him not to hurt his feelings. Sans couldn't change Papyrus's nature, nor could he teach him the realities of this world. Ignorance was bliss after all. But what he could do was to prevent people from hurting his baby brother.

He thought back to the timelines when Chara had possessed Frisk. He never actively tried to stop them. He always just warned them that if they were going the way they went, they would have a bad time. They always ended up killing everything and everyone. He never intervened at any time when Frisk fought Papyrus. He simply left it to the roll of the dice if he would kill Papyrus or not. He had the power to stop Frisk in that timeline before they attempted to hurt Papyrus but he never did. He just stood around watching.

He wasn't willing to take that chance now. So that's why he had snapped at Dani. He had become so overly possessive of all of his friends that he didn't stop to think about anyone else. In that respect, Dani was right to tell him he was selfish. He paced back and forth, wondering what to do next. He wanted to know if she was okay but he knew she wouldn't want to see him at that moment. So he decided to stalk her. 'It's not stalking it's just being concerned,' he justified within himself and teleported to the outside of Dani's apartment complex. He settled himself in the shadows of the trees and extended his magic through the wall. The sound of sobbing made his soul tighten.

" _There there_ ," he heard a familiar voice say. It was Owen's from last time.

" _What happened_?" Another male voice demanded. It was deep and authoritative. Sans couldn't recognize it.

" _Jake, honey, be more sensitive_ ," Owen chastised. Sans remembered that Owen was gay so he assumed that Jake was his boyfriend.

" _It's okay guys,_ " he heard Dani whisper. Her voice was shaky and it cracked in certain syllables. It sounded like she had been crying for a while now. He heard her gasp.

" _Owen, pass me the wrap I'll take care of her wrist talk to her while I work at it._ " He heard the rustling and tear of cloth.

" _Tell me what happened today, Dan?_ " Owen asked gently. He heard her take a deep breath.

" _Remember when I told an asshole tried to feel me up this morning? It got progressively worse from there..._ " She started to tell them about how her Visual Arts Professor had practically spat on her work and how she stormed out of class. She told them about how badly it affected her self esteem and made her feel like she was nothing. She told them about Jerry and the shit he told her. Sans growled as soon as Jerry was mentioned. That fucker. Jerry was a douchebag. Everyone knew it.

" _Then I told you guys about Papyrus right? Yeah he came over to me and asked me to have spaghetti with him and I tried to say no but he dragged me off and finally I screamed at him to stop and he did. I told him I didn't want to anything with him and was such a bitch to him. But he looked so hurt that I tried to correct myself saying that I'll see him next week. And he was happy after that."_ She paused. " _Then after that, as I was leaving, Sans came over to me and was like 'don't talk to my brother that way' and I was like mind your own business and that's when grabbed my wrist said since it was his brother he couldn't and that I had no right to throw shit at him. And then I told him I didn't care and that Papyrus should have taken the hint that I wasn't interested. Then he twisted my wrist and told me to check my attitude before I go around ruining people's day and then I slapped him and told him that he was a selfish bastard even though his intentions were good and after that I got out of dodge._ "

" _You ruining people's day?! What the fuck like you didn't ruin that guy Papyrus's day. You made up for it by at least taking a rain check on the spaghetti thing. Your day was way worse. Papyrus didn't get almost molested did he? He didn't have his hard effort, blood, sweat and tears be dismissed and be called a failure by a stranger_ _did he?_ _Unbelievable._ " Owen fumed.

Sans heard the tearing of paper and a sigh. " _Alright D, I've got you patched up. I'll stop by tomorrow and pass you my wrist guard okay? But seriously what is that fucker's problem? He nearly broke your back and now your wrist? D, say the word and I'll punch the shit out of him._ "

And to that Dani laughed brokenly. " _It's fine Jake. I don't want you to get hurt. That dude has some crazy magic. Remember, he had me in this blue aura thing and threw me around an alley. ME. 130 pounds. If tossing this heavy piece of shit around like that is not powerful I don't know what is_."

" _You are NOT a heavy piece of shit!"_ The anger in Owen's voice had Sans startled. " _Dan, we love you. You're an amazing person. So what if that Jerry person or Professor Todd said you were a failure? That doesn't mean they are right. You're tough. You're smart. You're beautiful. Don't think about yourself that way. Please_."

" _Owie's right. D you're freaking awesome. Todd can go fuck himself. Your shoes looked sexy as hell in those photos. I would bang the heck out of them. Sorry Owen._ " Sans heard a thud and Jake wincing in pain as Dani laughed.

" _What would I do without you guys_ ," he heard her whisper to them. " _I don't deserve you two..._ "

" _We will have none of that_ ," Owen told her firmly.

" _Let's make you some tea and watch Friends on Netflix?_ " Jake suggested.

" _You bet. Could it be the cheesecake one?_ "

" _Okay_."

Sans decided he had enough of eavesdropping and teleported to back to his room. He collapsed onto his messy bed put his skull in his hands. He felt like absolute shit. Dani had such a bad day and he had to make it worse. He just HAD to. He wondered if he was ever going to not ruin her life or physically hurt her. He didn't know what to do.

After hours of pondering and contemplating the next course of action, he decided that he should stay away from her, but at the same time keep tabs on her to see how she was faring. It sounded like a solid plan and that made him feel better about what happened.

He hoped he wouldn't do something stupid to make her think less of him than she already did. He turned over to his side and shut his eye sockets closed. Sleep didn't come easy for him, like it always did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the fanfics I've been reading makes Sans look like a knight in shining armor and like a hero and stuff so it's sooo fun making him a kinda bad guy without a dark! Also, this was a short chapter I know. Like I felt there wasn't much to say to be honest but at least I'm glad I did a Sans POV to kind of rectify the OOC-ness that happened with him in the last chapter. I hope you guys are still enjoying the fic and thanks for reading everyone! You guys are giving me such nice comments and I literally can't omg. Like this fic isn't as popular or has as many hits as my other ones but it's the one that like most of you keep urging me to write and it makes me so happy. I love the angst of this while the second fanfic I'm writing simultaneously called Hot for a Teacher is like a very cheerful ish Sans/Reader fic (but not for long because I'm gonna bring the feels soon). If you wouldn't mind, please check it out if you're interested and I'll see you soon!
> 
> -Vodka_Martini


	8. Friendship spaghetti

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

Dani wiped her palms on her jeans. They were incredibly sweaty. She was nervous to hang out with Papyrus. Granted, she did think he was a complete sweetheart but it wasn't him she was worried about. It was, of course, Sans. Dude freaking sprained her wrist. Of course she had every right to be worried about him. She found herself standing in front of their doorway. She took a deep breath. There was no turning back now. She knocked on the door hesitantly. The door swung wide open which startled Dani slightly.

"NGAHHH HEY THERE DANI!" Undyne screeched, pulling her into the living room rather roughly. Papyrus poked his skull out of the entryway of the kitchen and broke into a grin. He waddled over to them and Dani giggled a little. Papyrus was wearing a chef's hat with an apron that said ' _kiss the chef'_.

"HUMAN!" He bellowed. "SO GLAD OF YOU TO JOIN US IN THE CULINARY ART OF MAKING SPAGHETTI! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Dani smiled. His exuberant manner was so damn charming.

"Of course Papyrus!" She was knocked back slightly and found Frisk to be clinging to her legs with a beaming smile. "Hey there Frisk," she said ruffling their hair lightly. They nuzzled their face into her leg affectionately, looking up at her with a wide grin.

"You gotta let me go now, buddy or else I can't make that delicious spaghetti..." Frisk pouted and Papyrus gasped dramatically.

"LITTLE HUMAN! I INSIST YOU RELEASE BIG HUMAN OUT OF YOUR EMBRACE FOR WE MUST HAVE SPAGHETTI!!!" Frisk made no effort to move and Dani shrugged helplessly.

"Alright bud, you brought this upon yourself..." Dani began to walk to the kitchen, with Frisk still clinging onto her leg. It was slightly difficult but she managed it quite well, dragging her leg slightly while Frisk let out squeals of delight.

"Come on nerd! Let's make the stuff! We already set out the ingredients!" Undyne gestured towards the items on the counter. Dani wrinkled her nose in confusion. She found bottles of various colours of glitter, sprinkles and other items that do NOT go with spaghetti other than the box of spaghetti itself.

"Um... I don't think we should use those for spaghetti..."

"WHAT?!" Undyne and Papyrus shrieked. Frisk pulled their face away from Dani's leg for a moment and gave them a stern nod.

"Well we shouldn't because those, um, _things_ might make the spaghetti not delicious! Yeah they might not enhance the flavor and stuff." Honestly, Dani wasn't keen on poisoning herself and she could tell neither was Frisk.

"Alright then! What can we do to make it more delicious?!"

Dani placed her hands on her hips. "Okay firstly, let's put aside the stuff that's currently on the counter..." As soon as the words left her lips, Undyne let out a shriek and punched the counter. The items fell to the floor. "Well that works too," she muttered helplessly. "Okay now let's get the stuff to actually make spaghetti which, Undyne, includes the box of spaghetti that's on the floor..." She gave her pointed look with an amused smirk on her face. Undyne grinned. She turned to Papyrus. "And Papyrus, would you so kindly get the tomatoes?"

That's when they started to get cracking. She had Undyne dice up the tomatoes and sausage meat (courtesy of Sans, unbeknownst to him). Undyne nearly punched them to smithereens but Dani stepped in with a cooking board and instructed her to hold the knife horizontally and slice them down. "Do it sequentially. Like one slice after the other from the very corner," which she did with a "NGAAHHHH," and at lightning speed. The tomato and meat slices were sent flying across the room so she had Frisk stand upon a chair to catch any flying ingredients which they did rather impressively. She had Papyrus cook the spaghetti which involved her telling him not to turn the heat up to full blast, to Undyne's dismay. "Aww but that's no fun!" She complained to which Papyrus responded with, "BUT UNDYNE, THE LAST TIME YOU TURNED UP THE HEAT YOUR HOUSE CAUGHT ON FIRE!" To which Dani had turned to Undyne in disbelief. "Really?!" And Frisk nodded in confirmation too. Dani made a mental note to keep an eye on Undyne closely as she worked.

Dani was enjoying herself so much that she didn't realize that evening had approached them around the same time the spaghetti was finally finished.

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH TALLER HUMAN! WE DID IT!"

"Yeah punk! I bet it's gonna taste spectacular thanks to you." Dani waved off the compliment.

"Nah couldn't have done it without you guys. I mean Undyne your cutting skills were so good like you literally sliced everything in less than a second with amazing precision. Papyrus, you were so patient and delicate with the noodles and Frisk you saved those poor tomatoes and sausages that Undyne annihilated!" The three of them blushed at her compliment.

"Group hug," Undyne screeched as she brought Papyrus, Frisk and Dani into her arms and suplexed them. Frisk and Dani made audible sounds of choking while Papyrus lamented how strong Undyne was and how he someday wished to give bear hugs like she did. The sound of the doorbell saved the two humans from Undyne's death grip. The two of them caught their breath while Undyne and Papyrus practically wrestled each other to get the door. Dani turned to Frisk, "had fun kiddo?" They shot her a double thumbs up and a grin to which Dani chuckled. "I take that as a yes then."

Dani looked up as the sounds of multiple footsteps approached the kitchen. She was greeted by Toriel and two other monsters she didn't recognize. One was reptilian monster with yellow skin. She wore glasses and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt nervously.  
The other was a male goat looking monster with broad shoulders, a blonde mane and beard, and two large curving horns. He had an intimidating stature which had Dani gulping slightly. He broke into an easygoing smile.

"Howdy! I am Asgore and this is Alphys. It is a pleasure to meet you. We have heard many wonderful things about you."

' _Holy shit this is Asgore the king of monsters what the hell do I say to him_ ,' she panicked internally. "Hello your majesty," she started nervously. "I'm Dani Ross it's nice to meet you guys too."

"Please my child, simply call me Asgore." Dani nodded with a shy smile. She turned to Alphys and gave her a tiny wave, to which she returned politely seeming as nervous as Dani was. "Hey, Alphys right? Well I guess like I said I'm Dani. So nice to meet you," she said calmly and patiently. Alphys relaxed her shoulders. "I-It's n-nice t-to m-meet you." Undyne came barreling into the room which startled both Alphys and herself. Asgore and Toriel were rather calm, Dani noticed.

"NGAAAAAHHH YOU MAKING EYES ON MY GIRL PUNK?!" Undyne pulled Alphys to her side roughly and she let out a nervous laugh. "N-no Undyne. I was j-just introducing myself to her." Undyne relaxed. "Good punk! I will beat you to pulp if you dare hit on my babe." Undyne placed a sloppy kiss on Alphys's head to which she giggled. Dani smiled. They were so cute together. Opposites do attract, after all.

"So what's for dinner?" Toriel asked and Papyrus and Undyne both yelled out, "SPAGHETTI!!!" Dani could see Alphys, Asgore and Toriel gulp nervously. "Don't worry, I helped them make it today and I think it's going to taste absolutely delicious," Dani assured them and they relaxed. "Wonderful! Let us head to the table and feast on your creation!"

Dinner tasted really good. The chefs got numerous compliments which left them beaming. "T-thanks for helping them make it," Alphys whispered. "It's u-usually inedible."  
"Don't worry," she whispered back. "I wasn't keen on poisoning us."

"SO WHERE IS MY BROTHER?! HE IS NOT USUALLY LATE." Dani stiffened and Toriel frowned. "Yes, he's usually home by now, that is rather odd..."

Little did they know, he was within ears reach of them (with the aid of his magic of course).

 

* * *

 

Sans dragged his feet across the pavement, shoulders hunched. He had a pretty crap day. A rather attractive lady had been struck up pleasant conversation with him when he was chilling out at the park, which made her possessive and drunk boyfriend slightly pissed off. Which resulted in him being pelted with insults.

" _He doesn't even have a dick or lips, babe don't waste your time. Fucking him would be like fucking a cheese grater._ " The woman tried to defend him but he swore at her and called her some unpleasant things. " _You better go get him and yourself outta here. I'm sorry but thank you,_ " he told her.

The incident left him feeling like absolute shit. It wasn't the whole cheese grater comment that had him upset. It was just the fact that he couldn't get even a single person to not be repulsed by him for just being... him. In this case, he conceded that it wasn't his fault. The lady seemed to be pretty alright with him. He liked talking to her. Her boyfriend was the problem.

However when it came to Dani, it was all him. He was to blame. Thinking about her made his chest constrict. He was so mad at himself for what happened with her. He didn't know how to approach her and apologize to her. So he just let the matter be and hoped to god he wouldn't kill her the next time they met.

He walked up the stairs to their porch and stopped short when he heard the sound of laughter emanating from the house. He assumed they had company. He extended his magic to overhear the conversation and was surprised to hear the voice of Dani conversing with the rest of the monster gang. He quickly moved to the side of the house to avoid being spotted and leaned against the wall, listening.

" _My dear, it was an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance,_ " he heard the booming voice of Asgore say warmly.

" _It's no problem. I really enjoyed hanging out with you guys today._ "

" _S-so did we. Y-you should really hang out with us more often._ " Sans realized that Alphys seemed to be relatively comfortable talking to her, even though they had met only that day. It took a lot to get Alphys out of her shell and he wondered how Dani managed to get her to warm up to her so quickly. ' _She was probably herself. That's what she did_ ,' he mused.

" _I'd really like that, thank you._ " He could practically hear the smile in her voice.

" _WILL YOU TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF US?_ " Papyrus asked excitedly.

" _Definitely! We can arrange a date soon!_ "

" _Hah don't mention this to Mettaton or else he will go berserk._ " Sans chuckled at Undyne's statement. She was right. The walking calculator would probably shove them all out of the way and try to hog the spotlight. He then wondered if the photoshoot invite extended to him. His face fell at the thought of being left out. He wasn't desperate to get an invite but the thought of her disliking him so much that she would exclude him from an activity involving all his friends made his soul ache slightly.

The creaking of a chair snapped him out of his thoughts. " _Well, this has been fun but I've gotta get going_." He heard various whines of protest at her leaving but she promised to visit them soon. He slunk further into the shadows when he heard the front door open. He watched Dani as she walked down the steps and away from the house. She wore a satisfied smile on her face. He remained in the shadows until Asgore, Alphys and Undyne had departed leaving only Frisk, Toriel and Papyrus in the house. He took a deep breath and waltzed through the door and into the kitchen with his usual carefree grin on his face. "Sup guys," he said with a lazy wave. Papyrus placed his hands on his hips. "BROTHER! WHY ARE YOU SO LATE! TALLER HUMAN WAS HERE COOKING SPAGHETTI WITH US AND HAD DINNER."

"Sorry bro," he drawled. "Hung out with Grillby for far too long."

"Well no worries Sans. We saved a little bit of the spaghetti that they made this afternoon," Toriel gestured towards a lone plate of spaghetti sitting on the empty dining table. He slid into his seat a shoved a forkful into his mouth. "Holy shit kid, Paps did you make this?" The two of them nodded eagerly.

"INDEED BROTHER. DO YOU LIKE IT? TALLER HUMAN WAS A VERY GOOD TEACHER. SHE PREVENTED UNDYNE FROM DESTROYING THE KITCHEN. NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Sans smiled. His brother's enthusiasm and happiness never failed to improve his mood. "Sounds like a great time bro. You have fun too kid?" He ruffled Frisk's hair. Frisk yawned and Toriel's goat mom instincts kicked it. "It is way past your bed time, my dear. Let's head home now." Toriel picked them up in her arms and bid them goodbye. Sans turned to Papyrus. "Ready for your bed time story bro?" Papyrus nodded and bounded eagerly to his bedroom while Sans followed at a leisurely pace.

It didn't take long for Papyrus to knock out. He shut the book and tucked Papyrus in. He sat on the edge of Papyrus's bed for a moment and pondered. Dani made Papyrus happy. He realized that as long as his brother was happy, he was willing to put up with the awkwardness that entailed with each future encounter with her.

"Night bro," he whispered as he shut the door behind him. He headed into his own room and collapsed into his own bed. He fell asleep, exhaustion from all those mixed emotions he felt that day taking him under.


	9. Oniochalasia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

Dani wished retail therapy was covered by her health insurance.

Owen and Jake told her to take some time off to herself to relax and rejuvenate from the crazy and hectic couple of weeks she had. She tried protesting to that but they wouldn't have it. They managed to snag her a couple of vouchers for massages and facials. Well, she couldn't say no to free stuff. So she went on her way to have some lone time with her, herself and her.

The massage... awkward to say the least. Getting naked was super unnerving. But the aftermath of the massage was sooo worth it. And the facial wiped her lack of facial care clean. She had a great week. To top it off, she took herself shopping.

Granted, she lived off a student loan and her own savings so she couldn't buy much but she thanked the stars for the amazing items on sale. She managed to snag a pair of loose cropped jeans and several baggy T-shirts and shorts. She went to the local bookstore and found herself several books on photography and arts. She figured Professor Todd wouldn't be keen on helping her, so self-study was her resort. And she was okay with it.

She approached end of the department store, window shopping. As she turned the corner, she heard some sniffling. She stopped for a moment and looked towards the source of the sound. She saw the outline of two figures sitting on a bench that was sort of out of view from the other shoppers. There was a large ficus in between her and the bench. She crept over to it and peered through the leaves. She found herself staring at the backs of two figures; one was hooded of a familiar shade of blue and the other she saw a peek of brown hair.

"So what happened today, kiddo?" Dani recognized that deep voice immediately. It was Sans. She saw a flurry of movement from the figure next to him. She immediately assumed it was Frisk that was sitting next to Sans, signing.

"So some kids asked why Tori was your mom since she's a monster? And they called you a freak because of it?" Sans asked slowly and she saw the top of Frisk's head bobbing up and down, nodding. She heard Frisk sob which made her chest tighten. She couldn't believe how vicious kids could be sometimes. She had experienced bullying as a child and she immediately related deeply to them.

"Hey kiddo, tell you what. Do you wanna know how to respond to them if they say that to you again?" Frisk nodded.

"Tell them that she's not a monster. She's your _MOM_ ster." There was pause and Frisk erupted into a fit of giggles. Dani smiled. She gave props to Sans for making Frisk laugh. Laughter really was the best medicine.

Sans stood up and so did Frisk. "You're a tough one, bucko. Those kids have nothing on you. Stay determined alright?" He pulled them into a tight hug. Dani saw Frisk relax into his embrace. Her heart warmed at the sight. However, she felt slightly guilty that she was trespassing on such a private and emotional moment between the two.

Sans released them. "Come on kiddo, how about we do some shopping to make you feel better. Sound good?" Frisk bounced on their feet excitedly. He ruffled their hair affectionately and they got walking. Dani stepped out from behind the ficus when they were out of her sight. She checked her phone. She figured she could do a little more shopping before heading home.

 

* * *

 

She didn't know guys' hoodies could be that cheap. She was at the men's sales section of the department store, hunting for hoodies. She loved guys' hoodies. They were so comfy and warm she couldn't even. She didn't give a damn about the judging looks she got from some of the employees. She picked up a maroon hoodie and tried it on. It was super baggy and she fell in love immediately.

" 'scuse me," a deep voice drawled lazily. Dani was too into admiring the new love of her life that she didn't realize she was obstructing the hoodie rack.

"I'm sorry," she stammered moving hastily to the side. She turned to find an amused looking Sans grinning at her.

"Heya. What brings you here?" Sans asked.

"Oh you know, retail therapy. Makes a girl feel good inside," she replied with a smile. She felt a slight tug on her shirt and looked down to see a beaming Frisk.

"Hey there Frisk," she said, ruffling their hair. "Whatcha got there?" They were holding a pair of fluffy pink house slippers in their hands.

"I'm just hoping my fashion sense would rub off on the kid. They're gonna be my new doppelganger." To that, Dani turned to Sans with a raised eyebrow. She looked down at his feet and found him wearing pink house slippers as well, except his was well worn. She grinned.

"Well how about we get him and you nice new hoodies so you two can match?" Dani suggested and she saw Frisk grinning at the notion. "Mind if I join you guys in your shopping expedition?" She asked and Frisk nodded vigorously. So they got to work and the three of them perused the hoodie section.

Dani and Sans had a little debacle on what hoodie colour they should get. He wanted to get hoodies for them both the same colour as the one he currently and always wore.

"Oh come on. That's so boring. Seriously live a little," she argued.

"But that's my favourite colour," Sans whined and Dani huffed in response.

"How about we let Frisk decide the colour?" She turned to the child.

"Which colour would you like, kiddo?" Their eyes lit up and they pointed eagerly to a line of hoodies that were of a soft lilac colour. Dani turned to Sans, looking slightly smug.

"Well, the kid has spoken. Lilac it is." Sans pouted and she laughed. She swept her hand towards the rack. "Well what are you guys waiting for? Go wild look for your size!" Sans made a move towards the rack but Frisk stopped him and signed wildly, pointing at Dani.

"What's up?" She asked nervously, her eyes flitting between Sans and Frisk. Sans chuckled.

"Oh kiddo wants you to get the hoodie and slippers too so we can all match." Frisk nodded vigorously and Dani couldn't help but grin. "Sure I'm in!" She flicked through the racks and found her size. She put it on. The inside of the hoodie and hood was lined with white faux fur and was absolutely warm and comfy. She zipped it up and gave a little twirl.

"Well, what do you guys think?" They both nodded and shot her a thumbs up. She removed the hoodie and tossed it on top of the maroon hoodie she wanted to purchase. She flipped through the racks to find the smallest size for Frisk but felt a tug on her feet. She looked down to found Frisk prodding at her shoes. "Um whatcha doing?" she asked nervously and Sans chuckled.

"They're looking for your shoe size so they can find the slippers for you," Sans explained and she nodded understandingly.

"Size 9. I have gigantic feet," Dani winked and Frisk sped off to find her the slippers. So Sans and her were left alone. There was an awkward silence between them.

"Heya," Sans started, scratching the back of his skull. Dani stopped her rummaging and turned to him."Yeah?" She asked nervously.

"Look I'm sorry for your wrist. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. It's in the past. Let's leave it be."

"But, I hurt you. That doesn't excuse me being a complete douchebag," He persisted and she gritted her teeth.

"Just. Drop. It. Let's not bring this up again okay? Just leave it alone."

Sans nodded. "Okay..." he sounded defeated, almost.

Dani turned back to the rack and let out a whoop of triumph when she found a 2XXS hoodie size. She turned to Sans."I've got Frisk's hoodie. What's your size, Sans?"

"An XL." She nodded and pulled it off the hanger and handed it to him. He thanked her as Frisk zoomed in and thrust a pair of pink slippers into her hands. She ruffled their hair and tried them on. They fit her perfectly.

"Thanks, buddy. Here,' she handed their hoodie to them. "Try it on!' They did and both Dani and Sans laughed. The hoodie came up to their knees, like a dress. Sans zipped up the hoodie and threw the hood on. The hood fell over their eyes which led them to try to push it out of the way but failing miserably as it continued to fall over their eyes. That made Dani and Sans laugh harder. Frisk looked like a tiny purple marshmallow. It was too cute. They let out a tiny growl and Dani put Frisk out of their misery and pulled off the hood.

She turned to Sans, "we are so taking it."

"You bet. Though, there is something we are missing..."

Dani and Frisk looked at each other. "What are we missing?" Frisk's eyes lit up in realization and they ran over to Sans and tugged at his basketball shorts. Dani grinned, getting on board with the idea. "Oh my god, yes..."

 

* * *

 

The three of them walked out of the department store, looking like the dream team. They were all clad in big ass lilac hoodies, black basketball shorts and pink fluffy house slippers. For shits and giggles, Dani decided to throw in a pair of sunglasses for all of them to complete the look. They looked beast as fuck.

"Come at us scrublords we're ripped!" Dani exclaimed which caused Sans and Frisk to laugh. She suggested they end off the day by going to _Häagen_ - _Dazs_ and buying a big ass sundae which the three of them could feast on.

"Hey Dani," Sans said.

"Mmmf?" She responded, face stuffed with ice cream.

"What was the reporter doin at the ice cream shop?"

"Mmmf mm?"

"They were getting the _scoop_." Frisk made a badum-tiss noise by drumming a fork and spoon on the tabletop. Dani let out a groan once she finished swallowing.

"Alright I'll play. Where do ice cream go to school?"

"I dunno. Where?"

"Sun _dae_ school," Frisk clapped for Dani and she grinned.

"Dani wins that battle," a familiar voice said and Frisk let out a happy squeal. They slid out of their chair and ran to hug Toriel's legs. Sans and Dani both stood up.

"Hey Tori," Sans said.

"Hello there Sans and Dani. I see you three have become triplets." Toriel winked.

"Oh yeah we are matchy-matchy," Dani responded with a smirk.

"You three look absolutely adorable. Do you mind if I take pictures so I can post it on UnderNet?"

"What's UnderNet?"

"It's the underground's version of Facebook, the monsters' main social media platform," Sans explained and Dani nodded understandingly.

"Sure Toriel, go for it."

The three of them positioned themselves up against a wall and put on their sunglasses. They took multiple shots of them pulling strange faces with each shot.

"I think that's enough. I'll text you the photos, Dani. How about you create an UnderNet account and once you do I'll tag you?" Toriel suggested.

"But isn't UnderNet exclusively for monsters? Wouldn't it be intrusive or something?" Toriel waved her paw dismissively.

"Nonsense, my child. You are exclusively invited," Toriel assured her and she relaxed. 

"Alright Toriel. I'll text you later." Toriel nodded and informed her and Sans that she and Frisk had to go and they bid them goodbye. Frisk gave both Dani and Sans a huge hug. Once they left, Dani turned to Sans with a smile.

"They're wonderful."

"The absolute best." Sans agreed.

The awkward silence ensued once more. The air between them was thick, despite the fun afternoon the two of them shared with Frisk. There was a hint of wariness from Dani's part and a sense of unease from Sans's part. They both didn't know how to address each other without considering the fact that one of them had threw the other into a wall, sprained their wrist and was occasionally quote unquote " _stalking_ " them (unbeknownst to the other).

"So what are you into?" Dani asked suddenly which had Sans slightly startled. 

"Um I like bad jokes. And sleeping. And astronomy- stars especially." Dani looked interested. 

"Astronomy? What makes you interested in it."

"Somethin' bout the stars... I dunno they are just there. You can barely see them but you KNOW they are there. They are big. They are huge, relative to the size we perceive them to be with our own eyes. Their light takes a million years to reach us and in current time, the stars we see in the sky could already be dead. We never know. It just makes me aware that there is so much more to the universe, ya know?" Dani listened intensely as he spoke. 

"I know. That's really interesting, Sans. You should teach me something about the stars someday." He chuckled.

"Will do, buddy." They both smiled at each other. Something about this personal side of Sans had her feel more comfortable talking to him. They spent the rest of the afternoon just chatting about the weather and Papyrus and Undyne's antics. That itself took two hours. Finally, Dani looked over to the window and  noticed that the sun was beginning to set.

"Wow, it's getting really late. I had fun this afternoon. Thanks for hanging out with me." Dani told Sans sincerely.

"It's no problem. Actually, thank YOU for spending the afternoon with the kiddo and I. They had a rough day today and you really turned their frown upside down." Dani nodded understandingly. "But yeah, I hope my fashion sense rubs off on you," Sans said, giving her a once over and a lazy grin. She laughed. He liked the sound of it. 

"Not gonna lie, it really is comfy as hell. I might just get into it," she winked. She slung her messenger bag on her shoulder and picked up her shopping bags.

"See you around, Sans." He gave her a lazy wave, his eye-lights burning into her back as he watched her walk out of  _Häagen_ - _Dazs._

He remained at the booth, phalanges tapping the table top. He felt good that him and Dani managed to break the barriers between them a little. He could tell she didn't completely throw her wariness out of the window once she discovered he liked stars. That wasn't how it worked. But she made the effort to give him a chance. And that left him feeling hopeful. He genuinely liked her. She was a really cool person. He felt like a little child, hoping to be her friend. He prayed to Waterfall's crystals on the ceiling that he wouldn't set back the progress they had made today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAYA A NEW CHAPTER THAT WAS WAY TOO OVERDUE. I sincerely apologize for the delay because the other fanfic I am simultaneously writing called Hot for a teacher (which is a Sans/Reader fanfic check it out if you wanna I mean you don't have to but ;) had a delay because the last chapter I uploaded took fucking forever so this got set back and yeeeaaahhhhh sowwy :( 
> 
> But anyhoo, I would like to point out that this chapter was inspired by this piece of Undertale fanart that I will link right here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BFoch2TC-0l/
> 
> And I also titled this chapter 'Oniochalasia' because it is a fancy word for retail therapy. It is defined as 'buying as a means of mental relaxation'. So now you know, in case you were wondering what the hell the chapter title was talking about heh heh
> 
> Well that's me. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter once again and I sincerely apologize for the delay once again. Have a great one!
> 
> -Vodka_Martini


	10. UnderNet shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

It was official. Dani was positively and absolutely addicted to UnderNet. She signed up the very next day after her retail therapy session. Her username was minimalistic: _DaniRoss_. She wasn't very creative with her social media accounts and she knew it. She deleted her facebook after a month because some of her old acquaintances and tools tried to contact her numerous times and she got fed up with the notifications. She said sayonara to twitter because her life was too boring to talk about under 140 characters. She did use Instagram to follow photography accounts to get inspiration sometimes.

But UnderNet... Oh boy. On that platform, she actually had friends and people who she looked forward to hearing about their lives. She texted Toriel her username and once she was logged on and tagged on the photo with herself, Frisk and Sans, she was bombarded with many friend requests. It wasn't hard to guess who was who, based on the usernames.

 ***You have a friend request from ALPHYS**  
Dani without much difficulty was able to deduce that it was Alphys who sent her that request.

 ***You have a friend request from StrongFish91**  
'Could it be... Undyne?' She mused sarcastically.

 ***You have a friend request from CoolSkeleton95**  
Papyrus was the coolest of all skeletons, so she didn't try too hard to crack that mystery.

But they all posted such fun and interesting things. It had Dani entertained greatly.

 ***ALPHYS updated status:**  
**_I'm craving pizza right now but I'm too scared to call for pizza delivery >.<_ **

***ALPHYS updated status:**  
**_My claws are shaking. I deleted the number seven times because I got paranoid and thought I made a mistake ;-;_ **

***ALPHYS updated status:**  
**_Wait before I order what should I get? Pepperoni or Hawaiian? This is a real dilemma!_ **

Dani giggled at Alphys's statuses. Alphys had major social anxiety but online... She was queen. She exuded a cool persona online and appeared to be cool, confident and interesting. Dani figured she felt more true to herself on the Internet rather than in real life. She typed a response to Alphys's recent status.

 **_*_ ** **DaniRoss updated status:**  
**_@ALPHYS Hawaiian definitely! The sweet of the pineapples on the pizza compliments it really well. In my opinion it's quick to get sick of the taste of pepperoni :)_ **

She heard the angry sound of her kettle beeping and dashed away from her computer to silence it. She poured herself a cup of coffee and rested against the kitchen counter and took a hefty swig. Her computer beeped and she dashed over to it quickly, coffee spilling over the side and onto her parquet floor. She smacked herself internally. Her addiction to UnderNet was definitely out of hand. She grabbed a couple of towelettes and cleaned the stains. Then she checked her computer.

 ***ALPHYS updated status:**  
**_Hawaiian it is! Thanks Dani =^.^= @_ ** **DaniRoss**

 **_*_ ** **DaniRoss** **updated status:**  
**_No problem! ^^ @_ ** **ALPHYS**

She shut her computer before she could get sucked further into the world of UnderNet and headed to bed.

 

* * *

 

She threw her backpack onto her couch and groaned. Her lecture started too early for her liking and ended later than what was necessary. So she had a generally exhausting morning and was absolutely knackered. She pulled her laptop out of her bag and logged onto UnderNet to see what her monster friends were up to.

 ***ALPHYS updated status:**  
**_Toriel is taking Undyne, Papyrus, Frisk and I for a picnic OMG!!!_ **

**_*_** **CoolSkeleton95** **posted a picture**  
Dani clicked on the notification and was greeted by a photo of Frisk sitting on Papyrus's shoulders with a huge smile on their face.

 ***StrongFish91 posted a picture**  
She checked it and it was a candid of Alphys feeding Undyne a strawberry.

She checked all of their profiles and found them all to be at the park, smiling and having a good time. She had a laugh at the pictures Undyne posted of Papyrus's attempt into befriending a duck but a few photos later it seemed that the duck had rejected his courtship and a photo of the duck pecking at him angrily suggested as much. Once her laughter subsided, she fell into a somber mood. She felt as though she had nothing interesting going on for her and as a result, she felt insignificant. She felt even more alone in her reclusive bubble. She decided to make it look like she had a life.

Dani perused her selfie album. She took a bunch of photoshoots by herself when she was bored to establish her as the selfie queen. Well, only Owen and Jake established it as official but that wasn't the point.

 ***DaniRoss updated status:**  
**_Lazy days are lazy_ **

***DaniRoss posted a picture**  
It was a selfie of her, where her arm was extended all the way while her other hand was threaded through her dark, curly hair. A stray strand of hair though, was purposely left on her face where it fell over her rounded cheeks and slightly parted, plump lips. Her dark eyes were wide and clear.

She had turned up the vibrancy on the photo so her face and surroundings had more colour to it. She also edited it in a way where all but her face was slightly blurred out. To have the photo correlate to her status, she added a filter where the photo looked faded and washed out, but because of the vibrancy increase, her tanned skin still retained it's sun-kissed beauty.

Dani knew she didn't have the typical, Hollywood suggested attractiveness. She wasn't skinny. She was a decent size ten and she had a round face with slightly chubby cheeks. She had a ton of past acne scars from her teenage, puberty days. Her figure and face wouldn't win Miss Universe, she knew. But she did know how to take killer selfies and edit them to perfection so she conceded that despite her shit self-esteem, she looked beautiful in that photo.

She leant back into her chair, feeling slightly satisfied. At least now, she looked like she sort of had a life. Her computer _tinged_ and she looked over to it curiously.

 ***CoolSkeleton95 updated status:**  
**_Are we posting hot pics now?_ **

**_*_** **CoolSkeleton95** **posted a picture**  
It was a picture of Papyrus flexing in front of a mirror wearing sunglasses with giant muscular biceps pasted onto his arms that were also wearing sunglasses. Dani burst out laughing. Papyrus was such a perfect cinnamon roll. She decided to reply to his photo.

 ***DaniRoss updated status:**  
**_Damn @_ ** **CoolSkeleton95** **_. Looking smokin' ;)_ **

She smirked, knowing all well that Papyrus would be peeved at her pun.

 ***CoolSkeleton95 updated status:**  
**_@_ ** **DaniRoss** **_NYEHHHHH!!! I HAVE TO DEAL WITH MY BROTHER'S HORRIBLE PUNS EVERYDAY. I DO NOT WISH TO DEAL WITH YOURS AS WELL!_ **

**_*_ ** **DaniRoss updated status:**  
**_Aww @_ ** **CoolSkeleton95** **_you don't have to get all HOT and bothered ;)_ **

***Coolskeleton95 updated status:**  
**_@_ ** **DaniRoss** **_I AM NOT TALKING TO YOU ANYMORE!!!_ **

She chuckled. She understood why Sans plagued Papyrus with puns. His reactions to them were absolutely hilarious.

So with her addiction to UnderNet, she then subsequently spent her free time bantering with her monster friends and generally having a whale of a time. She couldn't wait to tell Owen and Jake about her adventures on UnderNet.

 

* * *

 

Sans was amused at the online antics between Dani and the monster gang. She was incredibly sharp and witty and he was glad she had started to warm up to them. He recalled how she was really wary of all of them initially. To him, especially. She did have some reservation about her, he noticed from the couple of interactions he shared with her. She had her own agendas and he respected that. He wasn't planning to snoop on her, given that he was already kinda sorta stalking her.

He scrolled through his feed, skimming through the statuses of the other monsters. He usually just logged onto UnderNet when he was incredibly bored. No one knew he had an account. His username was _granddunker9999_.  
He lounged on his side on his unkempt and messy bed, phalanges tapping the side of his phone in frustration. He may be "lazy" as deemed by the monster community, but his skull was filled with thoughts unbeknownst to the others. They were usually dark and terrible thoughts or theories and wonderment about the stars and quantum mechanics.

**_*DaniRoss posted a picture_ **

Sans paused. 'What does she even post?' He wondered and clicked on her photo. His jaw dropped open when he viewed her selfie. She looked really gorgeous. His eye lights focused on her wide, doe-like eyes and her lips. Those plump lips, almost as if filled with something sweet.

The human anatomy fascinated his scientist mind greatly. Their souls could persist after death, they were that powerful but with just a fall or a hitch they could fall dead. A snap or a cut to the neck or a blow to the back of the head can kill them instantly. A nick can break their skin and have blood ooze from it. He figured the sheer strength of their souls compromised their physical resistance. It was a paradox in and of itself. He stared at her face, mesmerized. He observed the sharp decline of her nose. Human noses were so ridiculously fragile, yet it added a whole element of beauty to their faces. The tease of the strand of hair on her lips filled Sans with some sort of emotion and desire who couldn't quite place his finger on. He just wanted to move that strand of hair away from her face, to fix that tiny imperfection with a motive of feeling the softness of her lips and cheeks...

 _'For science_ ,' he assured himself and continued to fantasize what it feel like to run his phalanges over her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww I had to take inspiration for this from my own selfies xD I am not a selfie queen like Dani, just throwing it out there.
> 
> Also the username for Sans's UnderNet account wasn't my own creation. I kind of ripped it off from this fanart: http://itsasparagoose.tumblr.com/post/145440984852/go-sansy
> 
> So, just throwing out there haha  
> -Vodka_martini


	11. Back from the dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo we've had a lot of fun with the monster gang. Ready to delve into Dani's past? Let's go!
> 
> Also, feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

It was cold outside. The town of Ebott was plagued with a sharp and chill wind from the south. Dani was just coming out of her lecture hall, wrapping her thick woolen scarf around her neck. She loved the cold so she wasn't too bothered by the wind and didn't really wrap herself up. She just wore a long sleeved shirt with skinny jeans and a leather vest on top. She had her scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves on as well. She delicately arranged the scarf around her neck and stared at it with a small smile on her face. It had sentimental value to her, just like her messenger bag. The scarf did make her sad though, at times. But she could never bring herself to rid of it, no matter how much hurt it brought her.

She stepped out of campus, reveling in the biting sensation the wind brought to her skin. She walked towards her apartment, in the direction where the wind was blowing which made her incredibly happy. She adored walking with the wind. It made her feel as though she was one with nature, not an anomaly, not a rebel. It did however, cause her curly hair to fly forward and whip around her face like a hurricane, which irritated the hell out of her.

A strand of hair got caught in her mouth and she shook her head violently to get it out of her face. Bad move. Her hair covered her eyes and she bumped into someone's shoulder. Hard. Her messenger bag fell to the ground and her scarf started to slip from her neck. She groaned and bent down to pick the messenger bag from the pavement.

"Are you alright?" A gruff, deep voice asked her. Her head shot up suddenly; the voice was so familiar to her. She finally cleared the hair from her face and rose to meet the eyes of the man she once loved.

"Will," she breathed, her dark eyes wide with shock.

"Dani? Is it really you?" He asked and she nodded.

"Oh my gosh it's been absolutely forever since I've seen you! How are you?!" He rattled and she grinned. His energy was always contagious. She loved it about him.

"I'm good. What about you? What's brought you into town?"

"Oh I'm here to break the news to my fiancée's family that we're engaged." Dani's heart stopped for a moment.

"Engaged?" She stuttered but quickly composed herself. "Who's the lucky girl? What's she like?"

"Oh man. She's wonderful. She's crazy, ambitious and beautiful. She's so intelligent and honest with herself; it's what made me fall in love with her," Will said dreamily. Dani's heart thumped at his description of his girl.

"Look, Dani. I'm running a little late. How about I meet up with you tonight to chat more?"

"Yeah sure! There's a place called Grillby's. I heard they sell the BEST cheese fries. You can search it up and find the address. So I'll see you at 7?"

"Perfect. Bye!" He pulled her into a quick hug and went about his way while she stood there, still in shock. She shook her head and ran back to her apartment and shut the door behind her. She collapsed on the couch and put her head in her hands, trying to process what the fuck had just happened.

 

* * *

 

Will. William. William Malloy. William fucking Malloy. The man with that beautiful skin, the colour of roasted coffee beans, those intense brown eyes, darker than hers even. And that dazzling smile. How she loved it. She felt tears prickling at the sides of her eyes at the thought of him loving another woman. It hurt. She blinked the tears back fiercely. _'I don't own him. I never did. He didn't want me. It's never going to happen it was nice while it lasted,'_ she told herself. Meeting him again had opened up some old wounds. Memories. Pain. Pleasure. Will made her learn so much, made her feel so much. She loved him. She really did. But he just didn't feel that way about her. He couldn't afford to. He could've lost everything if they were together. She wasn't important enough to make that sacrifice. He let her down easy, but it didn't make her hurt any less. But she understood and went on her merry way. She thought she wouldn't have to deal with that pain anymore. But now that he was back, it hurt again. Like she still wasn't important enough to love. She sighed. _'Pull yourself together, Ross. It's over. It wasn't meant to be. Get a grip.'_ She pulled herself out of her shell of self pity and prepared to reacquaint herself with the man who belonged to another.

 

* * *

 

She wished she could say she didn't make an effort to impress an almost married man. She couldn't. She pulled on a simple burgundy velvet dress and wore her leather vest over it and her scarf and fingerless gloves once again. She kept her hair up in a bushy ponytail and added a hint of pink to her lips. Anyone would say she looked normal and didn't dress to impress. She did dress to impress.

She waited outside Grillby's nervously. She hadn't been there, so she was already on unknown terrain and with Will in the mix, she felt at a complete loss. Undyne had told her that their cheesy fries were bomb so she took her advice. She felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned to a grinning Will.

"Hey, Dani. Ready to go in?" She nodded and he walked her in with a hand on her back. She repressed the urge to shiver. The place had a log-cabin kind of feel to it as the entire place was bathed in orange light and the tables, chairs, walls and floors were made out of brown wood. She decided she liked it. When she looked around, Dani realized that her and Will were the only humans in the entire restaurant. They rest of the customers were all monsters. She felt a little awkward but was reassured when Will patted her back lightly.

"..............Excuse me, would you require a table for two..............?" Their attention was caught by a man on fire. No the man was made _of_ fire. He wore a white shirt with a black vest and bow tie. His eyes were accompanied by black framed glasses.

"Yes please," Will said with an easygoing smile and the man directed them to a secluded booth, as though he knew they wanted utmost privacy. He handed them a menu once they were seated.

"..............What would you two like to have..............?" He asked. Dani assumed that fire dude was Grillby himself.

"Two of your cheese fries, please. Undyne told me they were to die for, I hope she's right," Dani said with a cheeky grin and Grillby laughed. It sounded like a fire crackling. It sounded rather homely.

"..............I see you're acquainted with Undyne, then. Alright. Two cheese fries coming right up.............." Dani gave Grillby a thumbs up and he went on his way.

Will leaned forward. "Many monsters in this area huh?" He whispered and Dani gave him an odd look.

"Yeah there are. Do you have a problem with it?" She asked sharply, on the defensive. Will looked startled at her accusation.

"No wait that's not what I was saying. I was just remarking on how many monsters there were in the area. I've met a couple of them today. They were cool. I don't have a problem with them."

"Good." She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. Will chuckled.

"Fiery as ever, huh?" Dani's face heated up.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "You know all too well how controlling my temper was never my strong suit."

"Nope, it definitely wasn't." They both laughed and shared a smile. Dani started to feel warm and she pulled her scarf off her neck. Will's eyes lit up.

"Oh man you still kept my scarf?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah it meant a lot to me. It's my favourite and I couldn't bear to get rid of it.  
"Also," she added. "It's warm as fuck and I'm too poor to buy a new one." She sounded nonchalant and that led to Will laughing.

"Still fiery and still sassy. Man Dani, I missed you."

"I missed you too." They smiled at each other and that's when Grillby slid into the scene with their cheese fries. They both thanked him and dug in. They continued to chat while they ate.

"So, Will, still a gym teacher at Ryes?" Ryes was the name of the high school Dani graduated from. He joined the school when she entered her final year of high school. She was seventeen and he was twenty two years old. That was how they met.

"Yup. Four years and still going on." She nodded. She subtly gave him a once over. He was still as muscular as ever. She eyed his biceps. She remembered how nice it felt to have them wrapped around her... No. She would not bring herself to think of that memory. She shouldn't and won't. So she tried her damnedest to get her attention off his muscles.

"Are your current classes as bad as my class once was?"

"No."

She raised her eyebrow. "No?"

"No. They're worse." She burst out laughing.

"Come to think of it, your class was my favourite out of the four years I've taught at Ryes." Dani stared at him.

"Really? Why?? I thought we were such a pain."

"No but your class had such high spirits and personalities. I mean they had you and Owen and them. Oh by the way, do you still keep tabs on him? I remember you two being inseparable back then."

"Still joined at the hip and Owen is still Owen. He's found a boyfriend though, who's kept him sane and at bay. He's really happy." Will smiled. He was glad that one the students he had grown attached to was happy.

"I remember the time I actually took interest in you. You kicked someone in the nuts for picking on him."

"Hey they were pelting him with dodgeballs and shoving him around and calling him horrible names. I couldn't just watch him suffer like that!" She sounded slightly defensive and Will looked at her, amused.

"I remember I had to tell you off for it but in my head I was like, ' _you go girl! Show those jackasses what it's all about'._ "

"Really??"

"Yeah definitely! That's when I knew that you were a special one." They both shared hearty laughter and once it subsided, he leaned forward, looking her intensely in the eyes.

"So, how are _you_? What are you up to these days?"

"I'm still at college and I'm trying to complete my visual arts course to become a Bachelor of Fine Arts." She took a finger-full of cheesy fries and shoved them into her mouth. Will nodded and waited politely for her to swallow.

"So..." Her voice got quiet. "Have you seen anything of Dad recently?" She bit her lip, tensing as if the answer wouldn't be pleasant. Will sighed.

"Yeah, I have. He's not doing too bad. I've been seeing him around town lately. Walking about, going to the shops."

"How is he?" Dani had a hopeful look in her eyes.

"He seems off the booze. We've run into each other a couple of times and talked. He's doing pretty alright, from what I've seen." She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Have you been talking to him, Dani?" Will asked carefully. Her father was always a sensitive topic to discuss so he wanted to lead this conversation topic with as much tact as possible.

"I call him sometimes. He doesn't tell me much about what's going on with him, if he's okay or not. We just have brief conversations. I feel like he doesn't want anything to do with me, since I decided to go to college and not stay back to take care of him. I worry but I feel like I should give him the space...

"And," she added slowly. "I think I remind him of mom. That's why he doesn't want anything to do with me. I miss him, but I'm terrified to see him again." She looked so forlorn and Will's heart went out to her. That young woman has gone through so much shit, still goes through shit yet here she was, standing. But she was so alone, she had no one to help her shoulder the true extent of her pain and suffering. He put his hand over hers.

"Hey, your dad loves you. You know he does. You mean the world to him."

"But if I do, then why the hell do my calls seem like a chore or inconvenience?" Will pursed his lips. He knew arguing with her would've been pointless. He couldn't change how she felt about the matter. So all he did was squeeze her hand and look her deeply in the eyes.

"When you get the chance, go back to Dain. Visit him. Talk to him, alright?" She nodded and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Dani pulled herself together and decided to change the topic.

"So how did the soon-to-be bride let you off on the night of your big reveal?" She asked teasingly.

"Amy had a business meeting the same time we arranged to meet. She told me in advance so she was cool with it. Her family was ecstatic that we're getting married."

"So tell me more about Amy and you. What's the deal with you two?"

"Man I don't know where to begin..."

 

* * *

 

Sans blipped into Grillby's, without breaking a sweat. He was feeling extra lazy and extra peckish today, so teleporting to Grillby's killed two birds with one stone. He plopped onto his usual, established spot. He nodded at the fire elemental. "Sup Grillbz how ya doin? Sales are lookin _hot_ today." He winked at him and Grillby let out a low chuckle.

"..............Punny as ever, I see.............." He slid a bottle of ketchup over the counter to the skeleton who caught it easily and took a large swig.

"The place is coming along nicely. I like it," Sans remarked, taking a look around the establishment. Grillby had replicated his place from the Underground but with a few changes. His new restaurant was larger and the jukebox actually worked. Sans felt like nothing had changed; like he was at home and he enjoyed the feeling and cherished it. Grillby thanked him politely and continued wiping down the glasses.

"So what's new with you, buddy? Anything interesting happen?" Sans twirled the ketchup bottle lazily. He didn't care much for gossip, but he just wanted to make casual conversation.

"..............Nothing much, except I have two humans dining here tonight.............."

"Humans huh?"

"..............Indeed. And one of them is acquainted with Undyne.............." That caught Sans's attention.

"Where?" He practically demanded and Grillby pointed him in their direction. He turned around and was surprised to see a slightly dolled up Dani conversing with a man he'd never seen before.

"..............Familiar with them, Sans..............?" Grillby asked curiously. Sans was wearing an odd expression while eyeing the pair.

"Yup. The girl over there is the one I told you about." Grillby nodded in recognition. He acted as Sans's outlet sometimes. He was a man of few words, only spoken when addressed or  when it concerns customers. Their attention turned to the human pair when pleasant laughter came from their direction. Sans subtly looked over to them and unbeknownst to them, he extended his magic to listen to their conversation.

 _"I'm glad to hear that you're doing well,"_ Dani told the man warmly.

 _"Same here."_ There was a pause in conversation and Sans could sense some tension from the man. That man cleared his throat.

 _"Listen, Dani, no hard feelings about last time right...?"_ Wait last time? Sans wondered what the history was between those two. _"You understand why I had to do what I had to do, right?"_

He heard the sound of cutlery being set down and a sigh. _"Yes, Will. Of course I understood. And I can't hold it against you because you didn't have a choice. We both knew it wasn't possible. And I still understand why you had to do it."_ Sans wondered what the ' _it_ ' was. _"You had your own life to lead. I can't bear a grudge against you for it. And I'm really happy to know that you're about to be married to someone you care about."_

 _"Thank you, Dani."_ Sans heard the groan of two chairs and saw the two of them hugging. Will bid her goodbye and she did the same. He left the restaurant, however, while she stayed behind, staring at the remnants of the cheese fries. Sans watched her, with interest. She ran her hand through her curly hair and her smile finally fell. He noticed she looked lost and alone. He figured they may have been lovers in the past.

But she looked so despondent, Sans knew he had to do something. He slid off his barstool and told Grillby to put the condiment on his tab. He approached the young woman's back. "Heya. You're looking a little _bonely_ over there..." Her head whipped around and she turned to a grinning Sans.

"You waitin for someone?" He knew all too well she wasn't but he wasn't going to let her know that.

"No, my friend just left. I was just going to leave as well."

"Aww buddy, that's a shame. It's pretty late, want me to walk ya home?"

She smiled and accepted the offer gratefully. He waved to goodbye to Grillby and held open the door for her. As soon as she stepped into the biting wind, she regretted wearing a dress. She shivered a little and buried her face into her scarf. This didn't go unnoticed to Sans's perceptive gaze.

"Hey you're feeling cold. Here, have my jacket." Dani attempted to protest but Sans would not have any of it. He gently placed it over her shoulders.

"Won't you feel cold?" Dani looked him up and down, slightly concerned. Sans appeared to be wearing a flimsy white T-shirt and, unsurprisingly, basketball shorts. He chuckled. "Girlie, I'm a skeleton. Magic remember? Weather's a _breeze_." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Very clever, Sans. Looks like you're cooking up a _storm_ with those puns."

"Not bad. I'd give it a decent 5." She rolled her eyes again.

"I'm not very humorous so I am not initiating a pun war with you." Sans stopped in his tracks which made Dani look at him in confusion.

"Um, Sans...?" He answered her question with a shit eating grin.

"Don't ya mean _humerus_?" He asked pointing to his upper arm bone. She groaned.

"Oh my god, no." She started walking briskly away from him but he caught up with her easily.

"Aww come on girlie don't be so _sternum_."

"I swear to god I am so done with you!"

"I'm _patellin_ ' you, take a joke."

"I will literally punch you if you don't stop."

Sans knew she wasn't serious. The smile that tugged at her lips said otherwise. He wanted to keep that smile going. So he spent the rest of their walk to her place plaguing her with bad (fucking fantastic, more like) puns which had her laughing and elbowing him to stop, which he didn't of course.

But all good things had to come to an end, unfortunately. They had reached Dani's doorstep which filled them both with disappointment.

"Thanks, Sans. It was really nice of you to walk me home." She pulled his jacket off her shoulders and handed it to him.

"No problem, girlie. I'll see you around?" She nodded with a smile.

"I'd like that. Goodnight, Sans." She shut the door behind her and Sans shoved his hands in the pockets of his retrieved hoodie and teleported into his bedroom, feeling happy and slightly giddy. His good deed of the day was accomplished and he felt good. Dani, though, didn't end the night with as much joy as Sans did.

She walked past her full length mirror and stared at her reflection. What she saw was the definition of 'desperate'. And she hated herself even more for pining over a man who she thought she closed the door on three years ago. She violently stripped herself of her burgundy dress and threw it into a dusty corner of her room. She pulled on shorts and a tank and fell into bed and shut her eyes tightly, trying not to remember him and her. Her and him. Them. Together. That one night...

So she breathed. And tried to think about anything else but Will. Oddly enough, Sans came to mind. She smiled as she thought about his shitty jokes (she actually found them hilarious but she wasn't going to tell him that!) and how they made her feel instantly better. She liked that she was getting to know him better. She liked that she was getting more comfortable around him.

But that didn't mean she trusted him completely, either.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO I AM FINALLY BACK FROM MY UNI TRIP!! HAD A GREAT TIME AND MANAGED TO WRITE A TON! ( I know I know two chapters ain't a ton but hey I'm writing two fics simultaneously so that means I wrote four chapters in a week!)
> 
> BUT OOH PLOT YAS! So let's see whatcha guys got in this chapter. Gym teacher and Dani may or may not have been a thing....? She's got mommy and daddy issues...? Haha I'm just teasing. Well I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you guys in the next one!  
> -Vodka_martini


	12. Best friends 'til the very end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/

"So, Malloy huh?"

"Yep."

There was a thud and Owen stared at Dani's dark hair splayed all over the table. He heard a muffled groan and chuckled.

"Hey Owie! Hey Da-" Jake's hearty greeting was cut off when he spotted a smug looking Owen and a mess of a Dani, who was faceplanted into the table of the café the three of them agreed to meet at. Her hair basically occupied seventy five percent of the table. He would've made a witty comment about not wanting to sugar his coffee with dandruff, but instead he felt concern wash over him.

"Hey, what's going on?" He took a seat beside Dani and shot Owen a questioning look.

"Nah, baby girl is having boy troubles." Owen gave him a wink and he felt a grin split across his face.

"Aww really, D? Talk to me about it. Trust me I KNOW all about boy drama. Is he cute?"

"Totally cute!" Owen piped up and Jake gave out an exaggerated gasp. They both snickered until a fist on the table silenced them.

"First of all, he's not cute," Dani growled, her head snapping up and facing Jake, "he's _hot_. Second of all, he's engaged." Her face fell back onto the table miserably as Jake's eyebrows rose up into the heavens.

"Okay, if he's that good a catch, tell me: Which bitch do I have to knock out?"

"Yeah come on Dan! Jake'll help you get back the guy you lost your virginity to, won't you Jake?"

"OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK." Her head shot up and she shot Owen a look of disbelief. And that smug bastard was smirking. But he didn't feel any sense of remorse. He was going out of his way to have her face not cement into the table of the café. Jake met Owen's bright baby blues and he couldn't help but internally applaud his boyfriend's craftiness.

"Is that so? Ooh you have to tell me everything. On a scale of one to ten, how good was he?"

"Dynamite. She said he had a HUGE di-"

"OWEN!"

Jake finally allowed himself to laugh. Dani was looking at Owen with an absolutely mortified expression but he could sense that she was a hair's width away from killing his boyfriend out of anger or embarrassment. There was no in between. So he placed a hand on her back and rubbed it soothingly.

"Hey it's okay, D. He's just kidding. You know he is. Also, what's the shame in telling me this? I already know your bra size so why's this any different?"

"YOU KNOW MY BRA SIZE?! OWEN I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL PUT A SHIT LOAD OF LEGOS ON YOUR BED TONIGHT." The young woman's eyes glinted dangerously.

"But you will be stabbing Jake too."

"It wouldn't hurt as much since being in a relationship with you hurts more."

There was a sharp clang as Owen dropped his fork on the table dramatically. The two best friends were spearing each other with eye lasers. Before a cat fight could break out, Jake patted Dani's back once again and tried to diffuse the situation.

"Chill, D. You've also got some stuff on Owie too, don't deny it." A slow smirk spread across her face and her eyes glinted with mischief.

"Oh yeah. Of course I do,' She leaned forward and stared Owen deep in the eyes, while addressing Jake still. "Did you know that before Owie came out, he tried drinking wax to impress a group of girls?" Immediately, the victim of Dani's slander turned beetroot red and hid his face behind his palms while his partner guffawed.

"Seriously?!" Jake choked out.

"Oh yeah. That skinny, corn-haired, sexually confused boy got drunk; got tizzy and fucked himself up at a party in a shed that was ghetto as hell and had no electricity. I was there with him, but I was drinking apple juice and sat there watching Owen wince after taking shots of tequila and smiling as if nothing was wrong. As the amount of alcohol consumed went up, his common sense went down.

"And finally, when those shitheads got blackout drunk,  the guys in the room were all competing for the gals attention to get laid by engaging in metaphoric pissing contests by saying shit like _'I wrestled an alligator when I was high'_ or stuff along those lines. So this idiot decided to impress the ladies by drinking a pot of molten glory from a lit tea candle. So he got everyone's attention, picked that candle up, blew out the wick and downed it like a shot."

Jake's eyes flicked between Owen's steadily reddening face and Dani's cheeky expression as she told the story, without breaking eye contact with the poor boy. "So, buddy, wanna take it from there?" She asked Owen while wiggling her eyebrows sassily.

"Oh my god it was one of the worst experiences of my life!" The boy wailed. "The initial ballsy feeling of pure hardcoreness was very quickly replaced by regret as the wax first burnt my mouth then my gullet. The pain was excruciating but it did not stop there. Oh no. The wax started to solidify." Owen paused for dramatic effect and Jake leaned forward, enraptured while Dani opposed his motion. Owen then resumed his story. "I have no way of explaining the feeling other than _'what the actual fuck is happening to me',_ so I spent the rest of the party curled up into the darkest corner of the shed, retching and coughing while Dani went on a whim and forced me to drink like a million cups of beer to clear my system of the wax."

"Oddly enough, it worked!" she chimed in while looking satisfied at her own past genius.

"It did work. And in the end, I didn't even get laid that night! So moral of the story is: DON'T drink molten candlewax to get lucky because IT DOESN'T FUCKING WORK!!!" By the end of the tale, Jake was in tears and released peal after peal of infectious laughter.

"Wow Owie. I am totally gonna hold that against you." This time, it was Owen's turn to faceplant into the table which had the two others laugh once again.

Once their laughter subsided, Jake turned back to Dani and decided to address the elephant in the room. "Hey, so what was the boy drama thing that Owen was talking about before? It seem to bother you a lot before..." Dani's mood flatlined immediately and Jake felt slightly guilty for killing her buzz. but he really wanted to know what was up. He cared about Dani a ton and really wanted to help her out.

"I ran into my old gym teacher when I was on my way home yesterday. He was in town for a couple of days to to break the news to his fiancée's family that they got engaged. And we met up later and had dinner together and kinda just caught up and talked about things."

"Wait, your old gym teacher from high school? You had a thing with your gym teacher?" Jake couldn't help but feel surprised. He knew that there were legal issues regarding student-teacher relationships, so he was curious to where this went.

"Yeah." Dani sighed, running a hand through her hair. "He helped me through really rough times. He taught me self defense and was with me late at night when stuff was happening at home and was just there for me when I need someone to talk to. I kinda fell in love with him after a while but naturally it didn't work out. It couldn't work out. He could've lost his job and been arrested. We both knew it was too risky.

"Also, he didn't feel the same way about me. I was just his student." Dani looked really forlorn as she talked about her old love. Owen took her hand in his own and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. He knew very well how much William Malloy meant to her and all that he had done for her. He was truly a wonderful man. He showed Owen kindness, too when he was being bullied for being gay. Both Dani and Mr. Malloy were the people who helped him accept himself for his sexuality and who he was. He was eternally grateful for those wonderful humans. But he could imagine how much pain Dani must have felt running into him. Their history ran deep, even though they were simply acquainted for a year. He met Jake's eyes and shook his head. His partner nodded with understanding.

"Hey, D. You don't have to say anymore on the matter. Sorry for bumming you out," Jake said apologetically. "But hey, I know what will make you feel better. Have you heard of the band Ninja Sex Party?" Dani's eyes brightened up almost immediately. Hers and Jake's love for music was intense. Jake always introduced her to cool music so she found herself feeling slightly excited for what he had to offer her. She shook her head, indicating she hadn't heard of the band

"Aww man. You guys are in for a treat..."

 

* * *

 

The trio were practically crying with laughter from watching a bunch of the musical comedy duo's works. "Oh my god this gold," Dani exclaimed wiping tears from her eyes. She shot Jake a grateful smile. He knew exactly what to do to make her feel better and she loved him dearly. "Thanks buddy," she said softly.

"Hey girl, it's no problem. You helped me out yesterday with that humongous fruit pie you sent us yesterday."

"Oh god yes thanks to that pie you made, he wasn't a pissy bitch yesterday."

She chuckled. They were referring to a gigantic cherry pie she made to have the large bag of cherries she bought for a photoshoot not go to waste. She even posted a picture of the pie on UnderNet which had many statuses proclaiming how good it looked from her monster friends come her way. "Did it taste good?" she asked.

"YES!!!" The couple practically shrieked in unison. "It was sooooo good," Owen moaned and she laughed again. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that dusk had settled upon the sky and she realized how much time flew by from spending time with her two friends.

"Hey guys, I think it's time to go. See you guys later?" she asked them, finishing the rest of her cold coffee. The two guys nodded and proceeded to gather their stuff until Dani stopped them for a moment.

"Hang on, can we take a selfie to post on UnderNet?" Her friends nodded eagerly and seemed to be all for the task. After several (more like many) selfies of them doing various faces, Dani and the couple split ways.

Once she entered her apartment, she went straight to her room and threw on a pair of pajamas and scrolled through the photos she took with her friends. After much deliberation, she finally decided which selfie she would like to post. She logged onto her UnderNet account via her phone and started to update her status.

 ***DaniRoss updated status:**  
**_You boys keep me right_** ♡

***DaniRoss posted a picture**

It was of the three of them where Dani was staring straight into the camera with a huge grin while Owen and Jake had their heads resting on either of shoulders, both winking cheekily at the camera. She loved that photo. It seemed that the camera had captureed a moment where Dani's smile was at it's brightest and widest it could ever get. It showed the true extent of how happy those two boys made her feel. She nodded in approval at the photo, set her phone to charge and went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayyy this chapter was super fun to write. Jake and Owen are absolute sweethearts and I felt like it was really necessary to really show the dynamic of their friendship, at the same time shed some light on the stuff that happened in the previous chapter. Also just a heads up next chapter will be the photoshoot I have teased for a while but it will be written in a way that is unique I guess? Well let us see!  
> Anyhoo I mentioned a band called Ninja Sex Party or NSP. They are amazing and my absolute fav. Like they produce songs that are comedic and not really proper music but they sing a lot about dicks and sex and shit band they are really brilliant. Here is a link to their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NinjaSexParty
> 
> Alright guys. I will see you in the next chapter. Byeeeee!  
> -Vodka_Martini


	13. Draconids

 

Dani huffed, dragging her duffel bag and tripod. Her tripod was ridiculously heavy and she asked herself why she was going through this ordeal. Apparently, there was going to be a meteor shower and she wanted to capture it. Climbing a mountain while carrying almost seven kilograms of camera equipment was almost a stupid idea but it was an opportunity she would never get again.

At long last, she had reached the top of Mount Ebott. She shivered, recalling the stories and myths of how those who climbed the mountain would disappear off the face of the earth, never to be seen again. Her mother always taunted her with those stories when she was younger. She remembered her mother throwing open the curtains of her window, sitting at the foot of her bed and telling her of tale behind Mount Ebott.

_"Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return. They used to say, monsters roamed the earth. But one day, the monsters seized territory of the mountain and eats up anyone who trespasses their home. So that's why, no one ever comes back from climbing the mountain."_

Dani loved hearing those stories. But she wasn't exactly sure if she ever believed them as a child. Her dad had always taught her to put her trust in her senses and only her senses. He told her that until she _sees_ a monster; _smells_ a monster; _hears_ a monster; _tastes_ a monster; and _touches_ a monster, she can concede that they truly exist.

So she spent her nights sitting by her window, in the neighboring town of Dain, staring at the far away and mysterious mountain; unknowing of what was truth; thus being birthed the skeptic she was today.

But now, she can confirm that monsters do truly exist now that she had _seen_ a monster; _smelt_ a monster; _heard_ a monster; and _touched_ a monster.

_(She hadn't tasted a monster to completely form her judgement but she figured she would give the tasting a skip.)_

She shook her head to clear the memories and busied herself with her tripod. Those were the golden days. Now her days were more or less slightly rusted iron. She wished the gold stayed gold, and not have lost it's shiny hue.

"Enjoyng the view?"

Dani almost dropped her $400 camera lens. She whipped around sharply to find Sans sporting his usual shit eating grin.

"Oh my god please don't ever scare me like that, especially when I'm handling thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment," she practically pleaded and Sans's grin faltered a little.

"I'm sorry," he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his skull.

'No worries," she assured him with a small smile and he relaxed a bit. 'So what brings you here?"

"Well-" he started but was subsequently interrupted a loud "NGAAAAAAAHHHHHH," and thus entered a barrelling Undyne suplexing an uneasy looking Alphys on one shoulder with arm and an excited Frisk on the other. She plopped them down like they were a sack of potatoes, and placed her hands on her hips proudly. However she growled when her eyes landed upon Sans.

"Grrr I hate that you take the easy way out with your stupid teleporting," she grumbled, pointing an accusatory fish finger at the relaxed skeleton. Dani's eyes widened at the comment.

"Wait, Sans, you can teleport?" She asked in wonderment and he started scratching the back of his skull once again. She figured that was his obvious sign of nervousness.

"Yeah... Well it's more of a shortcut or rifts in the fabric of time and space-"

"Yes he can teleport." Undyne interrupted him impatiently.

"Must be convenient, huh?" She asked him.

"Yeah for a lazy bones like me." Sans's grin returned in full force and before Dani can respond, a loud "NYEEEEEEHHHHH" cut through the valley and Papyrus burst uphill, with Toriel and Asgore and many other monsters following behind leisurely. Dani staggered back a little, feeling surprised at the sudden crowd that had joined her. Not wanting to offend any of the monsters, Dani knelt down and called Frisk over to her. They bounded happily towards her, pulling out their tablet.

 **'What is it, Dan-Dan?'** She smiled at the cute little nickname the child had materialized for her. She had no objection towards it.

"What are all the monsters doing here? On top of the mountain, I mean?" She whispered quietly while holding a natural countenance. She didn't want to appear rude by looking like she was bitching about the presence of monsters. They started to type rapidly with lightning speed which had Dani feel slightly concerned.

 **'We heard that there was going to be a meteor shower tonight so we all wanted to see it. Also, monsters had never seen the stars before they came to the surface. They love the stars.'** That made sense. She relaxed a little. She ruffled their hair affectionately. "Thanks, kiddo." As she stood up, Frisk pulled the hem of her shirt and started to guide her in the direction of where Toriel, Asgore and Sans were standing and talking. As she approached, Toriel noticed her and gave her a delightful smile.

"Hello there, Dani! What brings you here tonight?"

"Well same reason as you guys. I came to take a couple of photographs of the meteor showers tonight. I set up my equipment over there," Dani gestured towards her set-up but immediately tensed up as Papyrus and Undyne were wrestling each other and were dangerously close to her tripod and camera. Sans, noticing her change in demeanor, spoke up. "Hey maybe we should give her elbow room to take those pictures? Asgore, mind clearing the way for her?" His voice sounded pleasant enough but it had an undertone of urgency.

"Certainly. Come, my dear." Asgore placed a hand on her back and guided her towards her set-up. Sans walked in line beside her, flanking her on the right. She felt as though Asgore and Sans were her body guards. As Asgore waded through the crowd of monsters, they parted as though he was Moses and they were the Red Sea. Dani looked to Sans gratefully. "Thank you," she whispered. "I wouldn't have been able to get my Master's degree if my camera broke..." Sans gave her a wink in response. Finally she was able to let out a sigh of relief when her hands came into contact with her camera. Despite the model being a couple of years backwards, it still did its job well.

"Sup punk! You're here too?!" Undyne brought Dani into a bear hug and noogied her  while Alphys greeted her in a more civilized and gentle fashion. They were in the midst of exchanging pleasantries when a dash of glitter on the velvet sky had their attention enraptured. The shower had started.

Dani rushed over to her viewfinder, trying to snap as many shots as she could. Through it, it seemed that tails of light radiated away from a single point in the sky; scorches of light burning the inky sky. It was absolutely breathtaking. She quickly adjusted her aperture, or lens opening, to smaller the lens opening so that she achieved a greater depth of field to have the entirety of the comet in focus while the rest of the sky and to have the rest of the surrounding blurred.

She heard a sharp intake of breath and looked to her right to see Sans, jaw and eye-sockets wide open in awe. His eye-lights shone in wonderment and excitement and Dani's heart warmed at the sight. She could see how much the sight of the meteor shower made him feel so happy.

"Hit me up with a fact about the shower," Dani whispered to Sans, still fiddling with the camera. He turned to her sharply.

"Hmm?" He asked.

"Go, star-struck. Tell me something about this." She waved her hand towards the shower, her eyes glued to the viewfinder. She heard the sound of bone against bone and figured he was scratching his skull.

"Uh okay. So this particular shower is called the Draconids. It was named after the constellation, Draco, because the meteorites might've come from there. Meteor showers are caused by meteorites, like cosmic debris, passing through the earth's atmosphere really fast. And meteors are actually smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all of them disintegrate and never hit the Earth's surface. That's why they don't fall on top of us.

"Also," he added. "These Draconids aren't an annual thing. They only happen periodically but when they do, it's always in early October like it appearing today. It has been travelling longer than our minds can imagine, yet it was always destined to be here in this time and place, just as we were destined to bear witness to its beauty." Towards the end of his little spiel, Sans's voice cracked a little, as if overwhelmed by the blessing of witnessing such an amazing sight as the shower.

Dani looked away from her camera and stared at Sans, fascinated. She was actually multi-tasking and drinking in everything he said while taking a couple of shots. "How do you know this?" She asked, her eyes wide with interest. He just chuckled.

"I guess I like learning new things. I like the stars so I want to know everything about them and why they are what they are." Dani opened her mouth to respond but many gasps from the monsters to her right and left caught her attention. She noticed they were all standing in a line across the valley, watching the scene. She quickly began to unscrew her camera from her tripod.

"What are you doing?" She moved with lightning speed and focus and he was curious to what she was up to. She managed to yank her camera out with a small grunt. Without answering him, she took off with her camera and ran down the mountain with speed and determination. Sans simply shook his head and continued to watch the shower, not getting over how majestic it was.

Dani finally slowed down a stop and turned around. She looked through her viewfinder and began to walk backwards, trying to have the entire scene fit into shot. She finally achieved what she was looking for and knelt down for better coverage. Then she hit _click_. She exited out of the photo function and went into her library of shots and took a look at the photo she had just taken and her smile widened further.

It was a shot of all the monsters of various heights and shapes, standing in horizontal line with each other, watching the meteor shower ablazed in the sky, brilliant streaks of white tinged blue that caressed the heavens above them.

Her heart was warmed by the sight and she hoped with all her heart that the meteor shower did not disappoint.

It didn't.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww cutesy moment between her and Sans. Man wasn't it adorable? Anyhoo I don't know shit about photography so please forgive me if I have gotten a couple of details wrong because I am not familiar with the art of photography other than selfies xD. So yeah please go easy on me.
> 
> Also, a piece of fanart similar to the final shot that Dani took is linked right here on this tumblr post: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/post/146412619563/it-was-a-shot-of-all-the-monsters-of-various
> 
> Also on a similar note, I have created a new blog on tumblr that is specifically created for posting references I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/
> 
> So feel free to follow me if you are interested and would like to informed when post a new chapter or when I give direct links or post videos of the songs or images or pop culture I reference without having you to copy and paste the link and stuffs so yeah I will see you guys in the next chapter! -vodka_martini


	14. Amateur hour

**_*_ ** **DaniRoss updated status:**  
**_The photos I took from the meteor shower have finally been developed and edited. Took me ages ;|_ **

She decided she would post the few ones that she felt she liked the most and were the best. She wasn't sure if she should post her photos on UnderNet but she decided that her monster friends may as well get to see some of her works. After all, she knew she couldn't hide them forever. She promised a photoshoot, so eventually they would have to see them eventually. So she hit upload and hoped for the best.

***DaniRoss posted a picture**

***DaniRoss posted a picture**

***DaniRoss posted a picture**

 

* * *

 

Professor Todd looked at her photos of the meteor shower with a critical eye. He gave her an approving nod. "Not bad, Ross. That one isn't so bad." He was referring to the wide shot of all the monsters looking at the shower. "You made use of Social Engagement in the part of Contextualization by having taken the shot of the monsters. That is what you should strive for. The other shots, however, have no reference to any of the five pathways of contextualization. You need to take more shots in the various fields. But otherwise, it's pretty decent. Bring me a couple more shots in social engagement and one of the other pathways and you'll get your four credits and progress once you complete your written assignments for them." Dani nodded and thanked him politely. She went back to her desk and pulled her laptop, starting a bit of research.

Her current curriculum had her needing to practice on any of the five pathways of the course: Contemporary Art, Creative Industry, Fashion Culture, Imaging Technology and Social Engagement. She had the social engagement bit covered but she needed to nail it home with more research and photos. So she decided to type out her ideas for each field.

 **Social engagement:**  
**•Monsters.**  
**•Learn their history and use it for written assignment.**  
• **Arrange photoshoot.**

 **Contemporary Art:**  
**•**

 **Creative Industry:**  
**•**

 **Fashion Culture:**  
**•**

 **Imaging Technology:**  
**•**

She had nothing. She was literally blank. All she needed was to think of something in one of the other four fields but she wasn't familiar with any of them. She felt like the easiest thing she could be able to grasp quickly was fashion culture but she didn't know shit about fashion so how could she possibly-

_WHAM!_

The sound of the doors of her classroom being flung open had her almost jump out of her skin, causing her fingers to hit random keys and type gibberish. She growled in frustration and turned back to spear the inconsiderate scoundrel who made her break focu-

She lost her train of thought when her eyes fell upon a robot that had metal segments below and above it's left eye and a body made out of pink and black metal pieces. Her eyes trailed downwards and she was almost overwhelmed by the sight of sexy legs that the robot had sported.

"Is this the right classroom?"  The robot appeared to have a deep, dramatic male voice with a slight echo to it. A first year student, Dani figured from his acne and trembling frame, that was standing by his side nodded vigorously.

Professor Todd stood up abruptly, his face red with fury. "Excuse me, just who do you think you are, barging into my classroom like that and disrupting everyone?" The robot opened his mouth but before he could say anything, one of her classmates screamed "OH EM EFF GEE IT'S METTATON!!!" The other students looked up from their projects and hell broke loose. Many of them abandoned their stations and dashed towards him, calling out things like:

"Oh my god can I have your autograph?!"  
"HAVE MY BABIES PLEASE!!"  
"YOU ARE AMAZING!!!"

Dani looked around the room and found herself to be the only one seated in the class.

"Darlings, darlings you are wonderful. Too kind!" The robot gushed as he granted her classmates their wishes and requests gracefully. Dani and Professor Todd looked to each other, confused. Once the robot had satisfied her classmates, he called out, "I am looking for Danielle Ross, may I know where she is?" Her eyes widened and her classmates parted to give the robot direct view to where she was seated.

"Oh you look lovelier in person! It is so nice to meet you. I have heard incredible things about you!" Dani stood up from her seat and chuckled nervously.

"You've heard about me?" She asked and the robot gasped.

"Of course I have! The others wouldn't shut up about you!" Dani's face was still blank and realization dawned up him. "Oh how rude of me, I haven't introduced myself. I am Mettaton." He strode towards her and held out a hand and she shook it.

"Likewise, I guess...?" As she practically never strayed out of her reclusive bubble, she had never heard of this Mettaton character and from the reactions of her classmates, she figured he was some idol or something.

'Wait, Danielle, have you never heard of Mettaton?" The rest of classmates looked at her as if she had commited blasphemy. She nodded slowly and that drew many gasps across the room. Her cheeks felt slightly warm and she stood up, her chair creaking behind her. "I'm sorry," Dani looked straight into Mettaton's robotic eyes with a guilty expression. He looked incredibly surprised.

"No need to apologize, darling. It is alright. I am not offended by you not knowing my craft." Her shoulders relaxed. An abrupt cough grabbed everyone's attention. Professor Todd placed his hands on his hips and stared the robot and his student down.

"Mr. Mettaton, may I know the reason for you disturbing my class and my student?"

"Why I would like to have Danielle here conduct a photoshoot of me this afternoon."

"WHAT?!" Dani and Professor Todd sputtered at the same time.

"I am sorry but you cannot simply remove my student from class like that," her professor told the robot firmly. But before Mettaton could respond, a loud "NGAAAAAAAHHHHHH," was heard followed by the doors being thrown open. Both Undyne and Alphys had entered the room.

"Sup, punk! Ready to take some pics of Mettaton?" Dani literally stood there in shock while the other students and her professor were wondering what the actual fuck was going on. "Actually I'm in the middle of class right now and I ca-" She was silenced by Undyne grabbing her wrist and practically dragging her out of the classroom. "Undyne! What the hell my stuff is in the classroom!"

"No worries darling, Alphys has got you covered." Dani tried to assure Undyne that her legs were in existence for a reason but her hold on her wrist refused to cease. So she just went limp and let her be pulled out of her campus. A huge limo pulled out into the parking lot and Dani's jaw dropped open. "Are we going in that thing?" Mettaton nodded in confirmation. Alphys scuttled quickly beside her. "S-sorry about that," she apologized. But Dani noticed the driver's door opening, revealing an orange cat-like monster, wearing a chauffeur's suit with an adorable matching hat, to step out. It opened the door of the limo. "Thank you, Burgerpants," Mettaton gushed and it muttered something in response. Undyne nudged her into the limo and she reveled in the smell of the leather seats. She perfectly understood how weird she was, sitting in a celebrity's limo with bottles of champagne on the side but chose to focus on the scent of leather.

"I have seen some of your photos on UnderNet, Danielle. And I must say, I am very impressed." Mettaton's voice snapped her out of her daydreams of leather seats.

"Hmm? Oh thank you. And you can just call me Dani," she assured him and he smiled. "Very well, Dani you are then."

Her eyes wandered about the limo once again, wondering what was going on. "So what's going on?" She was way too confuzzled to be tactful, at that point. "M-Mettaton has a fashion shoot. S-so he needed someone to take pictures of him," Alphys explained.

"Yeah nerd! When he told us about the picture thing we immediately thought of you." Undyne grinned proudly and Dani couldn't help but turn warm at the compliment. She thanked them graciously, but assuring them she was an amateur of sorts in terms of the types of photographers that worked in Mettaton's field.

"Hey, Mettaton. Look, I don't mean to sound rude but what exactly do you do?" Dani seemed nervous when pitching out the question. "I guess I kinda do my own thing and I never payed attention or kept up with pop culture."

"I assure you, honey, that it is alright. I am a representative of the monster species in the media. An ambassador, if some may say. I do volatile shows which can extend to game shows, cooking shows, the news, anything really! I love my job." Mettaton sounded really passionate about what he did and it had Dani's heart warmed.

"H-how about you, me and Undyne can go on a Mettaton movie marathon one night? Like a g-girls night in?" Alphys twiddled her dinosaur thumbs, as if she expected Dani to turn her down immediately. "Yeah, nerd! Let's do it it'll be great!!!" Dani agreed to it immediately. The jolting of the limo made her realize she reached her destination.

The cat monster from before, Burgerpants, opened the door of the limo for them. Mettaton rudely pushed past him which led to it to scowl. Dani got off the limo. "Thank you," she told him politely. The monster softened a little. "It's no problem. At least someone shows a little recognition around here." The monster had a rough and gravelly voice. Dani wanted to say something but was interrupted by Mettaton summoning herself and Burgerpants. They shot each other a look and proceeded to walk into the studio. As soon as Dani stepped in, she was almost blinded with the sheer number of lights that were set up in the studio. They were a mix of magenta and white, which she felt suited Mettaton perfectly.

"Welcome to the studio, Dani. Make yourself comfortable and feel free to familiarize yourself with the equipment," Mettaton urged warmly and she grinned in response. Burgerpants shifted uncomfortably beside her and she leant over and whispered to him, "don't worry. I feel just as lost as you do." Alphys came over to her and gave her her camera and messenger bag and brought her closer to the stage where Mettaton was making various poses as directed by a man standing behind several Nikon D3X Digital SLR Cameras set on tall and bulky tripods. Clearly, the budget for the shoot was extremely high as the cameras they were using were worth a fortune. It made her own camera look cheap. She suddenly felt very insecure. As she approached the stage, the man barking orders at Mettaton stopped her. "Hey! Get out of the way, girl! We don't want anyone disrupting the shoot!"

"Oh no, this is Miss Dani Ross. She is a photography student and I have seen her works. She is very good and I have invited her to help us out today," Mettaton told him while smiling at her. Undyne punched her in the shoulder at the praise. The man, however, scoffed. "Mettaton, you clearly have not seen the professionals at work. Let us handle this. We don't need some amateur lingering around and ruining the shoot." He shot Dani a nasty look and her blood boiled. She refused to let this asshole walk all over her and doubting her abilities.

She marched straight up to him and shoved her index finger in his face. "Listen Mr. Dickhead, you yourself were a student and amateur once. You clearly didn't get to where you are instantaneously and without struggle. So don't you fucking dare question my abilities or look down upon me. This is my opportunity to learn fashion culture and my Bachelor of Fine Arts might just depend on my presence here. Mettaton invited me here to help out with this shoot and you are no way in hell kicking me out and denying me my right to help today. So have some empathy and not be an asshole, hmm? And have someone show me around the establisahment." Undyne snorted at her little spiel and the man turned scarlet in the face.

He sputtered and relented. "Fine. Jonathan! Go show her the shit and see what she can do." A young guy, who looked no more than a couple of years older than Dani herself escorted her towards a room where all the equipment was stored.

"You know," he started. "James can be kind of an ass but I'm glad you showed him. He still doesn't take me seriously even though I have a BFA too." Dani looked to him sympathetically. "I'm sorry, but hey, wanna help me out when I do my thing today?"

His face lit up. "That would be great! Thank you uh-"

"Dani."

They shook hands and he showed her around the storage room. She found herself fascinated with a set of ring lights that were piled at the corner of the room. "Hey, Jon," Dani called out. He waddled over to her.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think we could use these ring lights? I was thinking maybe would have Mettaton not ham it up and just have him be in his natural state. We can use the rings for Subtle Fill and Framing. Then we can have him against negative space with just him as positive. What do you think?"

"That sounds pretty cool actually. Here, let me help you out..." The both of them grabbed a ton of ring lights and a softbox. They both struggled with the equipment and once they stepped out James scoffed. "And what do you think you're doing?"

"Jon and I have a couple of ideas involving some negative and positive space," Dani said calmly. "Maybe I can do a thing where Mettaton is just the positive space, where his colour scheme of his body can stand out against black negative space where lights are shining at him from different angles, giving a mysterious edge. And since the part of my course that this can relate could be fashion culture, we can do something where Mettaton as a monster is an upcoming icon and is paving the way for more monster representation in the media.Though, I kinda know what I'm going for but this equipment is kind of too advanced for me. Could I have a couple of you to help me?" She looked about the room, waiting for a reaction and there were murmurs triggered. James stepped forward.

"That sounds incredibly stu-"

"Wonderful!" Mettaton looked extremely excited. "That sounds novel and interesting, I LOVE IT!!!" Jon and Dani gave each other a look that said, _'are you serious? Dude this is awesome!'_

"Sure, we'll help you out," an older man stepped forward flashing her a smile.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's do this!"

 

* * *

 

Holy shit, was the shoot going fucking fantastic. With Undyne's suplexing abilities, the set-up practically took no time at all. And Alphys helped Dani deduce which light voltage would have the best effect. Initially, Mettaton went about doing rapid fire poses but Dani stopped him.

"Um, hey Mettaton. I think we shouldn't have you do so many poses. Could we have you slowly get into position when we tell you to after we view the scene from the viewfinder?" Dani was nervous when giving him thast instruction. She was terrified to insult him but surprisingly, he took it rather well.

"No worries darling. I understand." She shot him a thumbs up.

"Thanks. Hey Undyne! Mind bringing over the black V-Flats over  here?" She brought it over and Dani briefed Mettaton on what she hoped to achieve. "Alright, so we are going to put you in between the V-flats over there. The V-Flats are for bouncing light and cutting light. The black ones especially are good for flagging the light and we are going to use it as our background here. And I know you might be all about colours and bright lights but I think I want to go with the black because the black can create a dramatic effect that's unique and compelling and mysterious. How does that sound?" 

Mettaton looked a little lost with her vision but Alphys reassured him. "D-don't worry M-Mettaton. I know what she is going for and i-its really cool. Y-you're going to be the centre focus against darkness." He seemed to brighten up at the idea.

Dani dragged over a black box and instructed Mettaton to sit on it. "Hang on. Sit tight while we adjust the lights and stuff." The other guys brought a heavy duty light and set it just out of sight from the camera's view finder but hit the side of Mettaton which had his profile illuminated.

"Could you cross your legs and extend one forward?" He did exactly as Dani instructed. "Okay leave your right hand on your thigh and let your left just hang by your side. Okay and finally, tilt your head forward a bit, close your eyes and let your lips part a bit." He was absolute perfection and she stepped back to the viewfinder to check out the scene. She hit snap and waited a heartbeat for the photo to develop. She was absolutely awestruck at how wonderful he looked. She summoned Jon, Undyne, Alphys and the rest of the crew. They gasped at how wonderful the photo turned out.

"Mettaton," she called out. He ambled over and she showed him the image. The light from the side hit his side which illuminated his silhoutte. His pink chest piece and boots took on a magenta shade while his palish skin shone a pearly white. His expression of sorrow added a dramatic element.

"Heavens. Darling, I look splendid." He wiped a tear from his eye and brought Dani into a a bone crushing hug. She let out a tiny squeak and he released her. "Oh dear, I am so sorry. Please, carry on with the shoot." Dani nodded and went back to business. 

She had the black box be taken away and had Jon pull up a fog machine. They turned it on and had Mettaton step in front of the fog. Dani put a light behind Mettaton and had it hit his back. 

"Legs shoulder width apart," she called out. "Arms a little out, palms up." He did as he was told but he sort of hesitated which had Dani concerned. "Mettaton, you alright?"

"Yes darling, I am fine but I would like to execute something. Is that all right?" Dani looked intrigued.

"Sure! You're the model, do whatever you want!" Mettaton fiddled with something along his waist. She craned her neck a little, wondering what the fuck he was doing. Suddenly, a flash of pink blinded her and she blinked rapidly. When her vision cleared, she noticed a pink heart, embedded in the center of his waist was glowing and had emitted rays of light. The others in the studio, gasped in awe. Dani quickly rushed over to her viewfinder to suss out the scene.

"Is this okay?" Mettaton called out sounding slightly nervous.

"Perfect! It looks awesome!" Dani exclaimed. "Now give us a little cheeky wink and smirk?" She took a couple more photos with different poses from Mettaton. 

Finally, the shoot ended when they found Dani to be yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Oh darling! You must be absolutely exhausted. Here, let me give Burgerpants a call to bring you back home. He suantered away, leaving her with the rest of the crew. She gave them a tired smile.

"Thanks guys, you were awesome to work with."

"Are you kidding me? Dude you were awesome! This was so different from the photoshoots we usually do I think it's gonna turn out great."

Jon stepped forward. "Hey, do you want to do the editing? It was your shoot after all," but Dani shook her head in refusal.

"My editing skills aren't really the best. And the photos we took to do are going to be distributed professionally so I don't think I should take the rein on this one." The crew nodded understandingly.

"Right, so we'll edit it and we can have Mettaton tell you when they are ready." She shot them a thumbs up in response and let Burgerpants escort her to the limo, while he helped her shoulder her camera and messenger bag.

"Thank you once again, darling. You were wonderful today and depending on how the photos turn out, I'd like to work with you again." Dani chuckled. Mettaton basically implied that if she did a shit job today, he wouldn't want to work with her again. She didn't take offence to it, though.

"Alright. It was nice meeting you, Mettaton."

"Likewise."

They both exchanged hugs and parted ways. As the limo brought her home, she fell asleep on the leather seats, completely worn out from the intensity and passion she exuded throughout the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THE DELAY I WAS DOING AN IMPOSSIBLE ESSAY THAT WAS A PAIN IN THE ASS AND LIKE THIS CHAPTER WAS A BIT OF A DRAG TO WRITE BUT OH Well! Sorry for all the caps lock whoops hahaha. Anyhoo, the photoshoot concept was inspired by a couple of fanarts of Mettaton that I have compiled and posted on my tumblr accout specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness. My username is vodka-martini-blog. Feel free to follow me on there! Alright the link to compilation of those pieces of fanart is right here: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/post/146843004923/okay-so-in-my-new-chapter-of-he-was-just-one-of
> 
> Alright, see you in the next chapter.  
> -vodka_martini


	15. Aunt Maggie of Arid Region

She was pretty sure she was stoning until her car jerked and her eyes fell upon the gigantic advertisment on the side of a building. The bus in front of Dani's car took an abrubt stop in order to prevent an old lady from being run over. She flew forward and hit her head against the steering wheel. She  winced, rubbing her forehead a little. She glanced out of the window and her eyes widened.

A 10-storey high billboard of Mettaton was pasted on the side of a building. It was the shot of him where he was seated on the black box with his silhoette illuminated and him wearing an expression of sorrow. The caption read:

 **_He'll make your living moments... ABSOLUTELY beautiful!_ ** ****

A smile of awe spread across her face. She literally couldn't believe the photo that SHE took was on the side of a fucking building!

And as if things couldn't get any better, she squinted and found that in grey letters on the bottom left corner of the ad said: **Shot by Danielle Ross.**

She honestly couldn't believe it. By that point, her phone had started to blow up with UnderNet tags and texts from both her monster and human friends.

 ***ALPHYS updated status:**  
**_@_** **DaniRoss** **_Great job on your photo! It turned out amazing!!!_**

 ***StrongFish91** **updated status:**  
**_Good job punk!_** **_@_** **DaniRoss**

Owen: _Hey Dan! I saw that you shot the Mettaton Musical posters going around. OMG they looked soooo good! Jay and I are so proud of you :)))_

Honestly, those texts and tags made her feel a sense of pride, a rare feeling that ever came her way.

However, only one message that she had recieved trumped all the others.

Aunt Maggie: _Hi there Cinderella. It's been a while hasn't it? How are you, sweetie? Would you like to visit this weekend? I miss you, my dearest and would love to catch up._

Dani's heart pounded. Aunt Maggie wanted her to visit? She tossed the idea of refusal almost instantly and replied with lightning speed.

Dani: _Hey Aunt Maggie!! You're right it's been absolutely forever. How about I come over this Friday for two nights??_

Her phone got a response almost immediately.

Aunt Maggie: _Of course, my sweet. I look forward to it!_

'Ditto,' Dani thought to herself, feeling her face warm with excitement and love for her favourite and only aunt.

 

* * *

 

She could've been mistaken for a tornado at the speed she was racing around her apartment, throwing her stuff into her duffel bag. All she packed were the essentials: clothes, chargers and a couple of toiletries. She was to embark on her journey to her aunt's place the next morning so she  was determined to pack as quickly as she could before she could run out of time. Just as she was about to put her laptop into its sleeve, she heard her phone vibrating. She picked it up and was surprised to find a message from none other than the Ex Queen of the Monsters.

Toriel: _Hello there, my child. Asgore is hosting a banquet this weekend and we would like to extend the invite to you._

She paused for a moment. A banquet did sound really interesting but she wouldn't sacrifice her meeting with her aunt for anything in the world. She pondered on how she could inform her that she would be out of town. Dani assumed if Toriel had texted her, Papyrus, Alphys and Undyne would be likely to do the same. So she decided to hint on UnderNet that she was going to be unavailable so all those monster friends that follow her would get a mass memo. She had no intention of repeating herself like a broken record for every likely text that would come her way.

So she unzipped her duffle bag and pulled one of her flowery tops and draped it messily, yet artistically over the side of it. She took a step back and nodded approvingly. She logged onto UnderNet and took a snapshot of her handiwork.

***DaniRoss posted a picture**

***DaniRoss updated status:**  
**_Long journey tomorrow..._ **

Her status was cryptic enough but yet still able to deliver the message. But just to be polite, she still replied Toriel.

Dani: _Hey Toriel. Sorry, I'm going to be out of town for the weekend so I won't be able to come._  
Toriel: _I see. That's a shame. Oh well, it can't be helped. Have a great weekend, nonetheless._  
Dani: _You too Toriel :)_

She breathed a sigh of relief. She set her phone down and continued to pad around her apartment to see if she missed out on anything. Once she gave herself the all clear, she tossed her duffel bag by her front door and got into bed. She was pretty excited to see her aunt so she fell asleep with butterflies in her tummy.

 

* * *

 

 _"Do you believe in life after love,"_ Cher rang out passionately as Dani pulled into a gas station.

"I can feel something inside me say  
I really don't think you're strong enough,  
Now..."

Dani unbuckled her seatbelt, singing softly to Cher's Believe. God, did she love Cher. You could spit in her face or step on her toes, but if you play Cher after she would forgive you in a heartbeat. Funny enough, it was her aunt who introduced her to Cher. Her dad thought she sounded like a broken record and her aunt called blasphemy on him. Good times.

She hummed the song while she filled her gas tank up with fuel. She rarely drove around in her car so she only had to do a half-tank of fuel. She payed for the fuel, got hit on by the checkout boy and that was her morning basically.

She had to drive for two hours to get to her aunt's place. She lived smack in between the towns of Ebott and Dain, where she grew up. There was a sort of run-down desert village in between the two towns called Arid Region, which literally meant 'dry area.' She found the title of the village to amuse her greatly. Dani pulled on her shades and turned the volume of her radio up and rolled down the windows. It had almost been forever since she cruised down a highway and no way in hell was she going to not jam the fuck out.

"Does he love me I want to know  
How can I tell if he loves me so..."

 

* * *

 

She slowed down when a stop sign came into her view at a reduced conflict intersection. When the coast was clear, she turned sharply to the left. As she split from the rural divided highway, she sped by a rusted road sign with the faded words 'Arid Region' on it. Clouds of dust trailed behind her and she let out a cough. She forgot to roll up her window and she chastised herself while blinking rapidly to clear the sand from her eyes. And thus she entered the hometown of her aunt. She took in how much the place had changed. Back when she was a kid, the village had been super rustic. All they had was a grocery mart, a gas station, a curio shop, a motel and plenty of shotgun houses where the inhabitatnts of the village lived.

But now, the town had sported a movie theatre, a couple of fashion boutiques and diners. The shotgun houses were repainted with a creamy french white colour. _'Aunt Maggie did a fantastic job,'_ Dani thought to herself, smiling.

Finally, her car stopped in front of the house that was slightly taller than the others. She had arrived at the house of Mayor Margaret Ross. She parked her car and shouldered her duffle, messenger and camera bags and walked down the sandy pathway and to the front door. She knocked lightly and her knuckles barely left the wood when the door swung open and she was pulled into the house in a bear crushing hug.

"Oh Cinderella, I've missed you!"

"I missed you too, Aunt Maggie," Dani said, her voice muffled as her face was smushed into her aunt's shoulder. They finally broke apart and her aunt looked down at her, her eyes filled with affection. "Goodness, you've grown into such a beautiful young woman since I've last seen you!"

"You've aged like fine wine too," Dani replied cheekily and her aunt laughed. Margaret Ross was an incredibly attractive, for a woman of 42. She had lovely ash blonde hair and bright green eyes with crinkles around the corner. She did have a couple of silver strands but it could be overlooked easily. Her aunt was ridiculously tall too. She was a head taller than Dani herself. She always had to look up at her aunt. Her neck hurt after visits.

She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when she felt floof and slobber at her ankles. She looked down to find an excited Sheltie nuzzling her.

"Hi Rolando!" Dani squealed as she knelt down to give the sable dog a hug. It let out a bark in response. She scratched him behind the ears and the dog started waving it's tail wildly. Margaret chuckled at the scene. "Looks like a certain someone missed you too."

"Ditto," Dani responded in kind, picking the dog up and cradling it in her arms. Her aunt motioned her into the living room and she followed. Once they were settled on the couch, Dani set the dog on her lap and stroked it's silky fur. The dog curled up further into her lap and panted happily.

"So how have you been?" Margaret asked her niece.

"I'm doing alright. Just about to finish up my course and on my way to get my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree."

"You can do it sweetie. You've always had that fire in you. I'm sure it'll serve you well."

They smiled at each other. Margaret looked out of the window and spotted Dani's car outside of the window. "Wow, Cindy. You've taken care of the ride like it was bought yesterday." Dani smiled sheepishly.

"I don't drive around in it much. The part of Ebott I live in is too dangerous to drive." With that, Margaret frowned.

"What kind of place do you stay in?" Margaret looked extremely concerned.

"I stay in an old dingbat complex on the far side of Ebott town. My student loan didn't allow me to get better accomadation," Dani said and her aunt stood up abruptly, causing Ronaldo to bark and Dani to almost jump out of her skin.

"Wait, you got a student loan?? Does that mean Elliot didn't give you enough to support your education?!" Her eyes flashed dangerously and Dani nodded slowly.

"Yeah... He just threw ten thousand dollars in cash at my face and told me to fly a kite." Her aunt's expression softened and she sat beside her niece and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Do you want me to lend you some money?"

"No." Dani hated charity. Her aunt had done so much for her. She had bought her her car and continues to pay the investments for it till  today. She didn't want her aunt to do more for her. She barely used her car, so Dani felt like her aunt was throwing her money away on a lost cause that was herself.

"Elliot... I thought he would've been better than that," Margaret whispered to herself.

"Even though I call him, he still refuses to tell me if he's alright and how things are with him.  It's just one word answers. I can't get much out of him. It's always me talking. He never says goodbye..." Dani sighed and hung her head low. "I sometimes wonder where I've gone wrong... If leaving him for college was a mistake and if I should've stayed back to take care of him..."

"No. You had every right to continue and further your education. Your education is a necessity. Elliot is an idiot for resenting you just because you went off to college." Margaret dismissed Dani's doubts immediately but it didn't do much good.

"I feel like I remind him too much of mom, that's why me leaving left him so distraught because it was like her leaving all over again." A tear slipped down her face. "I'm so selfish Aunt Maggie. I hurt him. He only had me but I left for my own selfish needs." By that point, the young woman was sobbing and her aunt wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh, sweet. You aren't selfish. Your future is important. You need a solid education to survive and thrive in this world. You'd eventually have to go off on your own. Your father cannot rely on you alone. He has to learn to stand on his own two feet. It's your life, Dani. You shouldn't throw it away for others. You have to live for yourself, at the same time caring for your loved ones without giving yourself away. You'll never be happy. You're trying your best to care about him and let him know that you still care. If he rejects your love, then it's on him. There's nothing you can do about it but remind him that you still care." Dani took in her aunt's wise words slowly, then nodded. Margaret was absolutely right. Dani knew it. But her emotions seemed to cloud her rational judgement.

"Sometimes, I just feel like getting plastic surgery so I don't look like mom so he can not be reminded of her every time he looks at me."

"Don't even think about it," Margaret growled. "You're beautiful as you are. Just because you look like Dana, it doesn't mean you ARE Dana. You are Danielle Ross. You are your own person. Sharing your mother's features and passions does not automatically mean you will act like your mother." Margaret sighed. "You know, your parents made me believe for a fleeting moment that fate was real and that your parents were the perfect couple to ever come together."

Dani looked up at her. "Really? Why did you think that?" She sounded curious. Her aunt had never told her that she felt this way about her parents and she was curious about the rationale behind the feeling.

"They were just perfect for each other. Everything in the universe seemed to work out in their favour; like combining their names, Dana and Elliot to make-"

"Danielle." She had heard her parents gush over their ingenuity when selecting her name many a time. The story and the excitement in their voices when they recited it was etched into her brain like carvings on tree. It was as clear as day when she went back to that road on memory lane.

"That, and their nickname for you coincidently being close to your hometown, Dain. They just brought the best in each other. Your dad was the realist while your mother was the dreamer. She showed him the infinite possibilities that life had to offer him and he saved her if she was about to fly too close to the sun."

"And look how well that turned out," Dani said bitterly and Margaret looked to her, her eyes filled with sympathy.

"Dana just wanted more from life than he could give-"

"Yeah but she should've guessed leaving us would wreck us! She was selfish. She left me with him! She let me get abused. She was the cause of THIS!" she swept her hair onto one shoulder and pulled down the collar of her neck to reveal thick and ugly hypertrophic scars littered on her neck and along the underside of her jaw. Her aunt winced at the sight of them.

"SHE turned dad into an alcoholic. SHE was the cause of dad abusing me. He has never apologized for all the beatings and thrashings I got when I tried to take the bottles away from him." Dani was shaking with fury and by that point and her eyes were filled with hot tears. "And you know what the worst part is? For some reason, I don't hold it against dad for abusing me. I didn't point out to him that I have more reason to resent him than he does of me. I had to call my gym teacher to take me to the hospital at 1 AM when I was bleeding out of my neck. Dad didn't even bother to ask where I was when I was stuck in hospital for two days. He didn't pay for my hospital bills; Will did. And I paid him back out of my college funds. And yet here I am feeling guilty for leaving my tormentor that I still care about." Dani turned away from her aunt and sighed.

"I will never forgive mom. NEVER. I loved her. So much. But what she did to me; what she did to dad can't be excused. If she was unhappy then she and dad could've talked it out and broken up peacefully instead of her just packing up and leaving one fine morning." Rolando, sensing her distress whimpered a little and licked her face. Dani didn't react. She stared to the side passively.

"I'm sorry," Margaret whispered to her.

"For what?"

"For bringing this up. I know anything in regards to Dana and Elliot is painful and yet still..." Margaret looked extremely upset and Dani felt awful for lashing out like that.

"It's okay Aunt Maggie. I really needed to get that out. I've been bottling my feelings for so long, I haven't talked to Owen about it because I didn't want to be a burden." Dani rolled her shoulders, sighed, then looked up at her aunt and gave her a soft smile."I guess I'm glad in a way you brought them up. I feel like a huge weight has rolled off my shoulders."

Rolando, as the clever dog he was, sensed Dani's relief. He barked at her excitedly and she ruffled his fur in response. Margaret smiled. "Okay, Cinderella. If you say so."

Rolando yawned, and almost as if it was a disease, Dani followed suit. Maragret noticed this and remarked, "You had a bit of a journey and an emotional rollercoaster. Let's have you rest for a bit and then we can go out and have dinner tonight, sound okay?" Dani agreed immediately. A little bit of sleep did sound splendid and she wordlessly allowed herself to be lead to her aunt's guest room. Once she landed on the soft bed, her eyes shut and she found herself entering into a dreamless sleep...

 

* * *

 

"Comfort food," Margaret remarked as she brought two glasses of vanilla milkshake and a plate of fries to the booth Dani was seated. Her face broke into a grin. "YAS!" She flailed her arms around, trying to reach for the milkshake. Once it got in her grasp she slurped it like she hadn't had water for eternity. Her aunt stared at her, looking rather amused.

She met her aunt's gaze and shrugged. "I have no shame," she deadpanned and contiued to ingest the milkshake like a barbarian. Margaret watched her niece with fondness in her eyes. She loved it when Dani let down her hair and let loose. She was always as tight and rigid as a cork in a wine bottle, which Margaret couldn't blame her for not with after all she had been through, Dani had to protect and guard her emotions carefully. She couldn't let herself get hurt, not after she was wrecked.

"It's incredible, what you've done with the village." Margaret snapped to attention.

"What was that honey?"

"I think It's incredible, what you've done with the village," she repeated herself. "I mean, back when I was a kid, the place was so barren and had practically nothing. Yet after more than a decade, you flipped the town 180. How did you do it?"

Margaret was the mayor of Arid Region. She had gotten married to the son of the previous mayor of Arid Region, but her husband went to prison for sleeping with the police chief's seventeen year old virgin daughter under the influence of ecstacy, crack and PCP. So you could bet your ass that she divorced that son of a bitch. He was banned from Arid Region and was disowned by his father, the old mayor of the village. He thus passed on the leadership role to Margaret as he developed a fondness for the free spirited and determined daughter in law, knowing she would not disappoint.

He was not wrong.

"I did my research about the geography of the area and found that we could engage ourselves in dryland farming. So I contacted the state and acquired state revolving funds to start farming. Soon, we started to grow cotton, corn and beans. Now, Arid Region is the main supplier of cotton, corn and beans of the state."

Dani stared at her aunt in awe. She truly was an incredible woman. She turned an entire town, from rags to riches almost. She dealt with an unfaithful husband. Yet she came out strong and successful. Dani thought she couldn't respect her aunt any more than she did but she was proven wrong once again.  
Their conversation was halted when they decided to eat their food. After dinner they caught a movie and that was their evening.

The next Saturday morning, Margaret decided to show Dani around the corn and cotton fields. She was absolutely delighted and went wild with photos. She went up to some of the farmers and chatted them up and asked for their consent to take their picture. Margaret watched her niece from afar, and noticed how much of Dana she had in her. She had Dana's love for photography and her loving spirit in regards to something or someone she cared about. Dani had a lot of her father, Elliot, in her as well. She had his dissociative tendencies and his cynical attitude. But at the same time, she gained her father's fighting spirit and fiery nature. God, did Margaret admire everything about her niece.

Dani bounced back to her aunt excitedly. "Are we gonna take Rolando for a walk now?"

"Yes," Margaret replied and Dani beamed. They got into Dani's car and drove their way back to the Mayor's house. Once they entered, Rolando knocked Dani over and tackled her with licks and barks. Margaret sped off into the kitchen while Dani showered the dog with pets and belly rubs. Dani had known the dog since it was a little pup and she was ten. And her aunt had always brought Rolando with her when she visited Dain. So Dani and the dog had a rather close relationship with each other. They strapped the leash onto the dog and they went off into the world.

Margaret and Dani shared amusement at Rolando barking at practically every branch that caught his eye. And once Rolando had satisfied Nature's Call, the three of them headed back to Margaret's house where they plopped onto the couch. Margaret turned on the T.V. with the intention in engaging in some Netflix but found herself to be distracted by the news channel.

_"Mettaton's new musical has caused quite the talk and buzz around and about Ebott. The monster, celebrity of the Underground, will launch his musical in two weeks. For, now here is the promo."_

The news segment cut to blackness. Three drumbeats sounded and a single spotlight flickered into the black and onto the robot himself. His head was hung low but a slow smirk spread across Mettaton's face. He tilted his head up and stretched a hand out. 

 _"OH? COULD IT BE...? ... MY ONE TRUE LOVE?"_ Mettaton's metallic voice rang out. Two spotlights switched on and hit both of his sides. A pretty girl, of the ideal beauty standards, with porcelain skin and large round eyes stepped out and walked past the robot, flipping her hair and looking to him seductively. Mettaton placed the back of his hand on his forehead and sighed dramatically.

 _"Oh my love, Please run away, Monster King, forbids your stay."_ Mettaton ran after her and caught her wrist. She spun around and he pulled her close. " _Humans must, Live far apart,_ _Even if..."_ He shoved the girl away and she fell to the ground and stared at him with wide eyes. _"_... _It breaks my heart."_ Mettaton turned away and a deep sigh escaped his metallic lips. The girl stood up and ran up to the monster's back and wrapped her arms around his waist. He turned around and fell into her embrace. 

 _"The king has ordered you to waste away in the castle basement,"_ he whispered and the girl sobbed softly. Mettaton cupped her face and wiped the tears away with the pads of his thumbs. _"My dear heart..."_ he tilted her chin up to face him. _"I can barely look upon you, knowing what comes next..."_ The monster then pressed his metal lips in the girl's fleshy ones. After three heartbeats, the scene cut to black.

Margaret stared at the screen, enraptured. "Wow, the Monsters are sure getting a lot of buzz aren't they? Have you met any, Cindy?"

Dani nodded. "Oh yeah. I'm friends with a few of them. They're so lovely. I can't believe there's so much prejudice against them."

Margaret nodded sadly. "I'm honestly not surprised.The bad apples of humanity are really rotten." Dani scoffed.

"Rotten doesn't even cover it. I actually had to save Frisk from a couple of thugs that almost beat them up with a freaking crowbar!" Margaret stared at her.

"Wait, Frisk? You mean the ambassador of monsters that's merely a child? They attacked a child?!" Dani laughed bitterly.

"You bet they did..." She then proceeded to tell her aunt about all that happened that night, about how it all went down; including the bit where Sans threw her about the alley like a ragdoll.  
"...So yeah now I'm friends with them and I hang out with them a fair bit."

"Wow," Margaret said with wide eyes. "Friends with the King and Queen of Monsters. That's amazing Dani!" Her face took on a look of concern. "And what about this Sans guy you said? He hasn't done anything else to you, has he?" To that, Dani sighed.

"He twisted my wrist when he got defensive over his brother." Margaret gasped but Dani quickly held out her hands in a placating gesture. "No it's okay! He and I are cool now. We've hung out on occasions and he seems like a decent guy. I guess I'm not totally comfortable with him but still he's not too bad."

"Just be wary of him, okay? He seems like a wild card..." Margaret advised and Dani nodded and turned away. Margaret knew that the matter of Sans should be dropped and that is exactly what she did. "It's so like you to save Frisk," she said drily and Dani rolled her eyes.

"Why?"

"Because that's just who you are. You've always been the one to stick up for other people when they're being bullied or abused, and put the offenders in their place."

Margaret was right. Saving Frisk was just like Dani. She was the kind of person to not tolerate unfairness. It just wasn't like her. "Yeah, Because of that I used to get hurt a lot. Mom and Dad were always worried about me..." Margaret placed her hand on her niece's.

"You're a blessing to the world, Cinderella. Don't forget that." Dani's heart melted at her aunt's tender tone. While she was cynical, Maggie Ross never failed to have her feel optimistic, that the world was her oyster and she was it's pearl. Her aunt's perpetual positivity and tender loving care had never failed to make her feel better about anything and everything.

So they spent the rest of the afternoon, simply sitting on the sofa watching movies. It was perfect. And then Sunday rolled around.

Margaret was sad to see her niece to go. Hanging out with her niece has never failed to be a pleasure, and she felt her time with her was too short. Rolando seemed to be pretty upset too. Every time Dani approached the door to set her bag down, the dog bounded towards her and bit at her pant leg and tugged at it with small whimpers which had Dani's heart almost shatter. 

Finally, she was done with her packing and padded into the living room. She ran up to her aunt and gave her a bear crushing hug. "Thanks Aunt Maggie for the invite. I had so much fun and it was great to see you again."

"No problem! It was wonderful to see my favourite niece again," Margaret said as she returned Dani's hug.

They released each other from their embrace and shared fond smiles. Dani suddenly had an idea. "Hey Aunt Maggie how about one day you come to Ebott and we can hang out then and maybe I could introduce you to my monster friends. How does that sound?"

"That sounds wonderful!" Margaret was beaming. It did sound exciting, after all.

But alas, good things were never meant to last for long. So Dani, petted Rolando intensely and gave him plenty of hugs and kisses before she left. As she got into her car, her aunt gave her a wave at the door and she reciprocated. And Dani then hit the pedal and made her way out of Arid Region. Margaret watched as her niece's car sped away, until it was no longer in sight. She sighed and made her way back into her home. She immediately pulled out her phone and furiously typed numbers into it. She hit call and after almost twenty rings, a gruff and sharp voice answered with an, "ello?"

"Elliot, It's me. You're an idiot..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I am so sorry for the delay. It's just like I said I've been going through a really rough patch in my life and things were really horrible and I just had a lot to deal with, But I'm gonna DO MY BEST to be more consistent from now on :) Thank's for your understanding and I will see you in the next chapter, in maybe two weeks!
> 
> -Vodka_Martini


	16. Justice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okie before anything, I'd like to mention this chapter that I used a pretty bad word as an insult towards one of the characters. Read the chapter and you'll understand the context behind it. So I just want to clarify that I am against the use of that particular word as an insult and I'm not insinuating that it's okay. Okay now that that warning Is out of the way, enjoy this chapter! Also, feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting chapter updates, references and context I make in my fics and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/
> 
> -Vodka_martini

Despite only staying there for a mere two days, Dani missed Arid Region dearly. She felt for Arid Region more than Ebott or Dain. So she found herself missing her anut and Rolando. Ebott's bustling and busy nature didn't really do it for Dani. She wondered if once she had gotten her degree she could maybe live with her aunt. She entertained that thought for a moment but then shook her head. She needed to get back to reality. The break with her aunt was fantastic for her weary soul but she needed to get back to work.

She was just on her way home from a meeting with her Professor. She showed him the shots of Mettaton that she had taken of him and her Professor didn't flat out hate it, which was a start. He had simply told her to shadow Mettaton for a bit then after a few more photos she could write her thesis on fashion culture. She felt a little confident and walked down the street with a spring in her step, and her hands shoved into the pockets of her hoodie. It was a rather lovely day in Ebott. Autumn had just about rolled around which had the leaves start to turn a lovely shade of golden brown. The air was pretty chill and crisp and it was lovely to walk about town. The sound of children laughing had her attention caught and she looked over to her right to notice that she was at the yard of Ebott's local school. It was also the school which Toriel taught at. A certain child wearing a familiar striped jumper next to a still and stout skeleton caught her eye and a grin spread upon her face. Frisk had noticed her in kind and let out a happy squeal as they ran towards her. Dani let out an _oomph_ as she stumbled back from the force of the child's collision against her legs.

"Hey there, Frisk. Nice to see you too," She said with a smile. They released her legs and started to tug at her shirt and point towards where Sans was standing.

"Alright, alright I'll play." Frisk's smiled so wide that Dani was warmed by the sight. They sprinted off towards Sans and Dani jogged after them. As she neared him, she was surprised to find the skeleton's eye sockets closed. How someone could fall asleep standing up, Dani couldn't fathom. Frisk walked up to him and poked him repeatedly. But the skeleton did not stir. His chest appeared to rise and fall steadily, mimicking human breathing. Dani watched, fascinated. He had no lungs and chest cavity so it was odd to see human behavioural traits on him. Frisk let out a huff of annoyance and turned to Dani with an adorably vexed expression. They pointed at her, then at Sans.

"Do you want me to wake him up?" Frisk nodded eagerly. She stepped closer to the skeleton and tapped his shoulder.

"Sans?" The skeleton didn't seem to respond and she shook his shoulder a little harder. "Sans," she said louder but he did not seem to rouse. Frisk groaned and pushed her out of the way. They raised their leg and brought it down upon Sans's slippered foot forcefully. The skeleton jolted and his eye sockets shot open.

"Ow kid, can't you let a guy nap in peace?" Frisk responded with a flurry of hand movements which Dani couldn't comprehend. Sans chuckled.

"Alright alright. You're right, Tori would dunk me if you even got a scratch. I accept de- _feet_." Frisk facepalmed and Dani shook her head at him.

"That was so bad." Sans simply shot her a shit eating grin.

"Don't tell me a _fibula_ , girlie. You found it _humerus_."

"You used that one already!"

Frisk giggled at Dani's flabbergasted expression. However, the joyful moment was ruined when a flash of orange barreled into Frisk, causing them to knock over with a yelp. Dani and Sans jumped back in surprise. Dani rushed over to Frisk and helped them up.

"You okay buddy?" They nodded and she sighed in relief. It appeared to be another kid, who looked about the same age as Frisk, wearing an orange shirt to have knocked them over. He stood up and pointed at Frisk angrily.

"Watch it, turd!" His tone was condescending and nasty. Frisk didn't react. Their face was passive and they took a step back. The kid adopted an angry expression at the lack of response from Frisk.

"What not gonna speak today, _retard_?" Dani's mouth dropped open. She couldn't imagine how someone could say those things to any human. Scratch that, regardless of human or not, it wasn't right to say those things to another _being_.

From Dani's peripheral vision she noticed a tinge of cyan. She looked over and found one of Sans's eye sockets were pitch black and the other glowing cyan and yellow. He was sporting a dangerously wide grin.

"How about you watch where you're going, kid."

"Oi! Don't talk to my bro that way!" A man barrelled towards Dani and Sans. He stepped in front of Sans and Dani and stared daggers at them. He was on the chubbier side and had a terrible case of acne. Frisk backed away and took safety behind Dani's legs.

"Listen pal," Sans said calmly. "We don't want any trouble. So how about you have your bro apologize to the kiddo and we can be on our way." He simply sneered at that.

"He is not going to apologize to that filthy traitor." He then directed his attention over to Frisk and pointed accusatorily at them.

"Monster sympathizer," he spat out. "Disgusting. You don't deserve to live, fuckwit." At that, Sans's eyes blazed a brighter cyan. He stepped forward, ready to give him a piece of his mind but Dani held out arm and held him back. She shook her head at him.

"Don't Sans. Let me handle it." He nodded at her and stepped back while she stepped forward, up and close to the man.

"Listen," she said calmly but her eyes glinted dangerously. " _YOU_ need to apologize to Frisk. How could you talk that way to a child. So apologize right now, or else..." The man rolled his eyes at Dani's unspoken threat.

"Or else what, princess?"

Her eyes hardened and as swift as a viper, she jabbed two fingers into his eyes. He yelped and stepped back but Dani was too quick for him. She grabbed his hand, flipped it in a big circle and did a 180 with it. He roared in pain and tried to squirm out of her hold but her grip was like an iron vice. She brought her knee into the base of his spine and that had him fall to the dirt on his knees. She didn't let go of his arm but she nimbly set her foot on his free hand.

"What is your name?" Her voice was calm.

"You don't need to know," he spat out and she shrugged. She dug her heel into his hand and he wailed in pain.

"What is your name?"

"M-marcus," he stuttered and Dani smiled. She had her free hand pull at his ear.

"Listen up, Marcus. If you want to walk out of here in one piece, apologize to Frisk this instant. I'm not afraid to give you a broken nose, do you hear me?" She let go of his ear and dragged him up by his hair. Dani pushed Marcus towards Frisk's and Sans's direction. For three seconds, there was silence on Marcus's part. Dani walked around him and grabbed him by his shirt.

"Don't make me ask you again," she growled and he could tell she meant business.

"Okay okay kid, I'm sorry." Satisfied with his apology, Dani released him from her hold and looked over at Marcus's little brother. He stared at her looking incredibly horrified. She pushed past Marcus and approached him.

"What's your name?"

"B-Billy," he stammered. Dani knelt down to meet him at eye level.

"Well Billy, let this be a lesson: Be nice to people and do not use the word retard on anyone else ever again. Who knows? People like me might just hurt you badly for doing that. Look at your brother for instance. Got it?" Billy nodded vigorously.

"Good." Dani turned to Marcus. "That applies to you too. Now get out of here." They didn't have to be told twice. Marcus scrambled off his ass and grabbed Billy's hand with his own uninjured one. Dani stared at their retreating figures. Once they were out of sight, Dani turned back to Frisk and Sans. They both were staring at her, dumbfounded. She sighed. "I'm sorry you had to go through that Frisk," She said as she knelt down to meet them at eye level. "People said mean things to me too, when I was your age. I wish I had someone to protect me from them..." Her head fell forward for a moment but she looked up and smiled at the child. "Don't let them walk over you, alright? You gotta stay strong for yourself." It sounded as though it took all her courage to offer that piece of advice to them. Frisk simply stared at them for three agonizing seconds. They then ran and hugged her leg tightly. She hugged them back tightly, almost in a protective embrace. Sans stood as still as a rock, not wanting to ruin the moment between them. Finally they separated.

"Look Frisk, I gotta go I'll see you around okay?" They nodded and she smiled at them She looked at Sans as well. "I'll see you too, Sans." He gave her a lazy grin.

"You too, girlie." She waved and walked away. The two of them stared at her retreating back until she was no longer in sight.

Frisk turned to Sans and held out a hand. They made a fist with their thumbs and pinkie extended and placed it by the side of their body and twisted it from side to side. Sans got the message pretty clearly: the sign for yellow.

Danielle Ross had a soul of Justice.


	17. Connections

"Frisk come play with us!"

Toriel looked at Frisk, who was looking up at her as though needing her permission. "Go ahead my child. Don't forget class once again starts in an hour." She gave the child a pat on the head and they dashed towards the group of other human children who looked at them apprehensively. She watched them for a bit. As Frisk approached, the children looked almost uneasy having them join them. The child who invited them over initiated a game of tag which the children fell into pretty quickly and seemed to get over their differences.

"Funny how they are suddenly welcoming the kiddo with open arms, huh?" Toriel looked to her right to see Sans standing next to her.

"Well, they were rather nervous when Frisk joined them but now they aren't as bothered." The two monsters watched the children play for a couple of minutes more.

"I think it's because of her they are starting to play nice." Sans looked up at Toriel. "Come on Tori, that has to be why. You told me last week that they refused to come near them."

Toriel sighed. "You're right Sans. It must be because of Dani. But my worry is that they are trying to befriend Frisk based on intimidation. That's not how it should be..."

"Wait, look!" Sans pointed over to where the children were playing. It appeared that the game of tag had stopped. Billy, the kid who had tormented Frisk, had tripped over his own feet and scraped his knee. The children looked about, unsure of what to do. Frisk simply approached him and held out a hand to help him out. Billy's eyes flitted from Frisk's hand to their face nervously. They nodded encouragingly at them and Billy took their hand hesitantly. Once he got to his feet, Frisk observed the wound on his knee. They stripped the gooey bandaid off their arm and slapped it on Billy's knee. Frisk gave Billy a sweet smile and he smiled back at them, clearly, touched by their kindness. The other kids seemed to be taken aback by their actions. When the two of them rejoined the group of children, they started the game again, but they seemed to be less wary of Frisk and welcomed them with open arms. Toriel and Sans shared a look with each other.

"I guess the kiddo's kindness is what makes people like them," Sans observed. Toriel nodded.

"Well, that is the best quality about them. It will serve them well."

 _'Provided if they don't go about killing everyone,'_ Sans thought to himself grimly but kept his grin in place.

 

* * *

 

Undyne perused the dumbbell section of the local gym, unimpressed. She found the heaviest dumbbell in the gym to weigh a mere 125 pounds. She scoffed and turned her nose up at it.

"Unhappy with the selection?" Undyne turned to find a young man with a shock of dark hair staring at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, I have standards," she said haughtily.

"Well, I'm not sure you can handle the 125. That's probably why you're not satisfied." He shrugged. "Oh well, have fun then."

Undyne, refusing to back down from any assumption of being weak took his comment as a challenge. "You think I can't handle that? Fuhuhuhuhu! Watch and learn, punk!"

She plucked up the two dumbbells with ease. She tossed them up in the air and caught them without breaking a sweat. She set one of the dumbbells on the ground and placed the head of the other on the tip of her index finger. She swiped it and managed to spin the dumbbell on her finger like one would with a basketball. The man's jaw dropped open and Undyne tossed the dumbbell onto the ground.

"How's that for not handling it?" She had a smug smile on her face.

"Alright you got me. I take that back, I'm sorry." The man extended a hand towards her.

"The name's Jake."

"Undyne." They shook on it and Undyne cocked her head to one side. "Say, you look really familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"I don't think so," Jake said sounding a little taken aback. Suddenly, it came to her with a click.

"Wait I know where I've seen you before! You're one of Dani's boyfriends right? I've seen a picture of you on her account on UnderNet!" Jake chuckled at that.

"If by 'boyfriend' you mean friend who is a boy, then yes I'm her boyfriend." Undyne waved her hand dismissively.

"Yeah yeah that." Jake looked at her for a moment.

"Hey Undyne, you seem pretty cool. Wanna be my workout buddy for today?" She let out a toothy-grin.

"Sure punk! Let's do it!"

 

* * *

 

"So are you the one who taught Dani how to spar?"

After a heavy and intensive workout, the two gym rats decided to have a hearty meal. They realized they had complemented each other in regards to the way they go about working out: intense with determination to push themselves to the breaking point. They decided they liked each other.

"Sparring?" Jake didn't know what Undyne was referring to so he stared at her curiously.

"How to fight and stuff," Undyne stated impatiently. Jake finally registered what she was getting at.

"I think you mean self defense." She waved her hand dismissively at that.

"Call it whatever you want. But were the one to teach her those rad moves?" Jake chuckled.

"Nah I know nothing about self defense. And to the extent Dani does, I think it involves a mixture of other martial arts techniques. That's what Owen tells me. Anyway, I'm not sure, I've never seen her get into a scuffle." Undyne furrowed her brows and nodded. Jake was curious as to why she brought it up. So he asked her frankly why. She set her fork and knife down and stared at him in the eyes.

"Well, she's good at it. I mean she did save Frisk from those thugs. And if you haven't heard recently, she almost beat up a guy because his brother insulted them." Jake hadn't heard that, but knowing Dani for a mere three years, it didn't surprise him. "And," she added looking rather sheepish. "She did beat me at a sparring match... So I wanted to take on the master that had trained her!" Jake laughed.

"Well you aren't taking me on because I'm definitely not capable of teaching her those tricks. Maybe her old gym teacher had the skills, but I sure as hell don't."

Undyne snapped to attention at that. "A gym teacher?"

"Yeah he's the one that trained and taught her how to defend herself. Not sure why he wanted to train her personally but apparently he just did."

"What's his name?" Undyne felt curious now. She was learning something fascinating about her friend. She made the observation that Dani didn't share much about herself. She offered her company and was great fun to hang out with. But other than that, she didn't offer much about herself.

"William Malloy, I believe. He was both Dani's and Owen's Physical Education teacher. They really liked him a lot." Jake had no intention of telling Undyne that Dani had something more with her teacher. It was something that Dani had mixed feelings about and something she didn't like to discuss. Undyne opened her mouth to uncover more but her phone buzzed, interrupting her thoughts. It turned out to be a text from Alphys, telling her she was back from work and was wondering where she was.

"Well I gotta dash," Undyne said as she pushed her chair back. Jake followed the same action.

"Alright. It was a pleasure meeting you Undyne." They both shook on it and exchanged phone numbers, promising to work out together once again in the near future.

 As Undyne headed home, she made a mental note to ask Dani about her gym teacher the next time they hung out.


	18. Trying to heal

"So what's the deal with your gym teacher?"

Dani froze, her fork stopping inches away from her lips. It took her a couple of moments to notice that the others at the dinner table were staring at her oddly. "I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"I worked out with your buddy Jake the other day and he told me how your old gym teacher taught you your awesome fighting skills. Is that true?" Undyne leaned forward eagerly and Dani chuckled.

"I didn't realize you ran into Jake. I figured you two would get along pretty well. Anyway, yes and no. My gym teacher taught me self defense, not fighting." Undyne waved her hand dismissively.

"Same thing."

"No," Dani interjectd. "It is not the same thing because Wi- I mean Mr. Malloy would not even condone me walking up to people and beating them up, because that would be very not good."

"Indeed," Toriel remarked. "You are completely correct. It would not be good going about fighting people." Toriel stared down Undyne and Papyrus who both grinned sheepishly. Toriel was referring to earlier that day when they had invited Dani for lunch where Papyrus and Undyne got into the noogie war which had amused everyone but Toriel. Dani smiled. But in the recesses of her mind, the memory of how it all started had started to resurface...

 

* * *

 

_"Danielle Ross?"_

_There was no answer. William Malloy frowned._

_"Danielle Ross?"  There was no response once again. It was a storming Friday morning. The students of William's class seemed to be like zombies. In all honesty, he couldn't blame them. It was the perfect weather to be wrapped up in a blanket, curled in bed. He could definitely understand why they didn't want to be there. He decided to get his students's energy levels up._

_"All right, last two to run to the opposite end of the hall has gotta dance the waltz for us."_

_That had the students up and running. William shook his head. The fear of embarrassment within teenagers was both endearing and pathetic. He had just entered adulthood so he could relate to these high school students a fair bit. It was primarily why his students liked him a lot; even those students who hated sports._

_"Come on guys. High knees from that end of the hall to the other ten times. Three, two, one GO!" He blew his whistle and that set his students off. As he observed them, a slight movement from the bleachers caught his attention. He turned to his left and saw Dani peeking out from behind the bleachers She froze when she saw him staring at her but he shook his head at her, and turned back to the class, ignoring her presence. She sat there, stunned. She was sure he would drag her out from behind the bleachers and force her to join the class but he seemed to understand that something was off. So she curled her knees into her chest and put her head down. She fell asleep to the sound of rain pattering against the roof of the_ _gym,_ _the sound of rubber sneakers hitting the waxed floor and Mr. Malloy's whistle._

 

* * *

 

_"Hey. Hey." She woke up to someone shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes to find her gym teacher on one knee, looking concerned. Her hair was splayed out over the half of her face and she wanted it to stay that way._

_"You alright Ross?" Dani nodded but tried to hide behind her curly hair. Mr. Malloy frowned._

_"I don't think you are..." He tried to push the hair away from her face but his efforts granted him the horrible sight of a black eye, a cut across the cheek and a large bruise on one half of Dani's face. He sucked in a breath. She looked seriously beat and the wounds looked ugly and grotesque._

_"Who did this to you." Dani pursed her lips and refused to say more. Her silence made his blood boil but he tried to stay calm for her sake._

_"Danielle, I won't do anything in regards to your personal life without your consent. Who did this to you?"_

_"My dad," she said quietly._

_"Why?" He sat down next to her, close but not to close, mindful of her space._

_"My mom left us a couple of years ago. And ever since then, Dad didn't do so well. He slowly started drinking and now it's bad. I've had to wrestle bottles from him for months now and he gets violent when he's drunk. He usually doesn't go for my face, until last night..." Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears and William's heart went out for her. He gently put a hand on her shoulder._

_"Have you tried defending yourself?" Dani stared at him as though that idea was completely foreign to her._

_"I never thought about it, I just usually tried to take the bottle from him and avoid having him drink more..." Will frowned. He was certain that she needed to defend herself from her father and that she should not take the hits. But his concern was informing someone of this abuse she was going through._

_"Do you want me to call the authorities?" She shook her head violently._

_"I'll lose everything, sir. I don't want to abandon him. He's the only family I have left and I can't just leave." It made sense, but Will still didn't approve with that notion. But it was Dani's choice and he would just have to see what would happen next to influence the situation,_

_"How about after school I teach you some basic self-defense so you won't get hurt as much and handle him better?" Dani pondered on his offer for a moment. It did not sound like too bad an idea._

_"Okay..."_

_"Good," William said, standing up. "It might just be better for you to stay away from home as long as possible. But I do not think you're in the state to go to classes right now so how about you stay in my office until the school day ends. Is that okay, Danielle?" She nodded slowly._

_"Dani," she said quietly and he stared at her in confusion._

_"Call me Dani." William smiled._

_"Alright, Dani. Come on, let's go." He held out his hand for her and she took it gratefully. They both headed out of the_ _gym_ _, heading towards William Malloy's office._

 

* * *

 

"I'm glad I'm getting to catch up with Mr. Malloy. He meant a lot to me."

"He meant a lot to me too." Owen smiled sadly at Dani.

"I know he did. I know how much seeing him again hurts, but you gotta stay strong okay? It was in the past so you need to move on. Easier said than done, I know." Dani nodded.

"I know. I have moved on but I'm just trying to heal from all the past feelings of guilt I had that resurfaced now that he's back again. But I think I'm dealing quite okay. I am not sitting in bed and crying into ice cream so that counts as a win in my book."

"Right on," Owen said with a big grin as they both fist bumped.

"Well, if it isn't Owen Orn. You look so mature now, unlike the lost boy I last saw at graduation." Owen got out of his seat to shake the hand of his ex gym teacher.

"Well Mr Malloy, you're still looking twenty-two. Tell me girl, what cream you using?" Owen and Dani turned to each other sharply.

"MAYBE IT'S MAYBELLINE!" They said in unison and William Malloy chuckled.

"You two are still the same around each other. No matter how much I tried to separate you two from pairing up in class, somehow you still got together." Dani and Owen grinned.

"Well, I know how we can be separated: Owen getting a boyfriend!" Dani pouted and Owen nodded in agreement.

"She does have a point."

William smiled at his former students. They both seemed to be doing relatively well, and nothing made a teacher happier than seeing their students happy and successful. He wasn't entirely sure about Dani though.

The three of them sat down and ordered cups of coffee.

"So how are you, Mr Malloy? What's going on in your life?" Owen felt excited to catch up with his teacher and leaned forward intensely.

"Well, I'm not sure if Dani told you but I'm engaged and I'm here in town for a bit until the wedding."

"When is the wedding?"

"Actually it is happening in a week and I wanted ask if you two'd like to be invited?" William looked at his students expectantly and their faces lit up.

"Oh my god, really?!" Owen looked extremely surprised but flattered nonetheless.

"Yes, really. I figured the two students who made my first year at Ryes memorable and wonderful should be allowed to come to my wedding because I felt that you two were more than my students at the time. You were like my buddies."

' _We were more than buddies,_ ' Dani thought sadly but she still smiled at her ex teacher.

"Wow, that is such an honour. Of course we would like to attend your wedding. Thank you." Owen nodded to indicate that he agreed with Dani's sentiment.

"Can I bring my boyfriend?" William laughed at Owen's gingerly tone.

"Of course you can! I would love to meet the boy who's taking care of you!" The three of them shared another laugh.

The rest of the afternoon was simply spent by discussing their lives with each other and catching up. However when she took a break from the conversation to drink her coffee, a thought occured to her.

She suddenly realized that by attending the wedding and seeing the man she once loved and cherished being with another woman whom he loved might just cause more pain to her. With a sinking feeling in her heart, she realized that attending the wedding may not be the smartest move but she kept her thoughts to herself, even after the three of them dispatched from their parley...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I am so sorry for the late update! I had exams this month and wow was incredibly stressed out. Anyhoo enjoy this chapter and I'll see you in the next one! 
> 
> Also, feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting references I make in my fics, informing you of new chapter updates and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/
> 
> -Vodka_martini


	19. NOT a home wrecker

"Speak now or forever hold your peace," the solemniser said, looking about the room for any protests from the guests. Owen and Jake immediately turned to look at Dani. She met the gazes incredulously. She couldn't believe her best friends thought she was so desperate over Will to stop his goddamn wedding. She rolled her eyes and flipped them off. They looked at each other with satisfied smiles on their faces. Owen leaned over to Dani.

"We're so proud of you," he whispered and she huffed indignantly.

"Honestly, I can't believe you think I would stoop to that level. Who am I, Taylor Swift?" She glared at them icily and brought her attention back to the bride and groom. Owen and Jake shot each other guilty looks. Dani would never pull a stunt like that and they were totally dicks for assuming she would be a home-wrecker.

"Hey, we're sorry D," Jake said apologetically as he tapped her shoulder.

"It's fine guys. Forget about it." She waved them off, refusing to say any more.

"You may now kiss the bride."

William raised the veil off Amy's head. He gently planted a kiss on her lips while the guests clapped wildly, Dani included. They broke apart, sharing loving looks.

"Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Malloy." They linked arms and walked down the aisle. Once they left the wedding hall, all of the guests proceeded to join them out into the park.

Amy and William had decided on having an outdoor reception so they booked a church that was opposite the local park. They were lucky that the sun was out, gracing them with its presence and blessings. Dani followed the guests at a leisurely pace, smoothing down her cream dress awkwardly.

You know how they said to never wear white at a wedding so as to not upstage the bride? Dani wondered if that unwritten rule applied to cream dresses. She wore a cream mini dress with bell sleeves and a neckline detailed with lace. She wasn't a fan of dresses in general so she felt out of her element. Also, bell sleeves annoyed her as when she attempted to smooth her hair, the sleeves fell to her elbows and were extremely inconvenient. She practically raided her closet for an appropriate dress for a wedding. Unfortunately, this was all she had so she had to make do with it. So she cut the cursing and joined Owen and Jake who were both conversing with Will and his bride, Amy.

"Dani! Finally you're here! Amy, this is Dani the student I was telling you about!"

Dani wondered what Will told Amy about but she greeted her warmly.

"Dani! So nice to finally meet you." Amy's voice was lilting and pleasant to listen to. She was extremely beautiful and had an incredible charisma to her. Dani decided she immediately liked her.

"It's nice to meet you too! Congratulations you two. I wish you guys all the best. All though hopefully he doesn't use his megaphone on you, Amy because it's extremely annoying." The group laughed.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said with a wink.

"Hey boys," Will said to Owen and Jake. "How about we get a drink? Do you girls want any?" They assured him they were fine and the boys left, leaving the two ladies behind. Dani cleared her throat.

"So you're a writer?" Amy's eyes lit up at the prospect of discussing her work.

"Yes, in fact I am! I am a cultural journalist where I travel around to get information on different cultures and write about them."

"Woah," Dani breathed. "That sounds incredible! So are you from Ebott?" Amy shook her head.

"No, my relatives live here. My parents and I are from Castow. We figured we would have the wedding in Ebott because practically all of my family lives here so it's convenient for them."

Dani nodded. The town of Castow was a distant neighbour of Dain. She hadn't visited but she's only heard good things about it.

"You're a photographer, right?" Dani shook her head.

"Aspiring photographer. I'm currently working towards getting my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree."

"You know what Dani? Someday you should really join me on my travels. You can help me take photographs as I write articles. How does that sound?" It did sound exciting.

"That sounds awesome. We'll see in the near future."

A high pitched voice called out Amy's name and she apologized to Dani and excused herself. Dani stood in the middle of the crowd, feeling a little awkward. She looked about for Owen and Jake but they were nowhere to be found. So she walked away from the crowd to get a bit of fresh air. When she went a little ways forward, she was surprised to see her skeleton friend sitting at a hot dog stand, skull in the palm of his hand, looking bored. Sans's eye-lights lit up when he spotted her.

"Hey girlie! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for my old gym teacher's wedding," she explained and he raised a brow bone.

"Really?" He said as he looked her up and down. "Ya sure you're not the bride," he said, with indication to her dress. She groaned.

"It's cream, not white! I swear to god I'm not trying to upstage the bride. What do you think I am, a home wrecker?!" Dani was practically fuming while the skeleton chuckled.

"Okay okay you're better than that I'm sorry." She observed his hot dog stand for a moment.

"So is that what you do for a living? You're a hot dog vendor?"

"I have multiple jobs," he said simply. Dani looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate but he said no more.

"Well hey, I am hungry so may I have a chili dog?"

"What you don't want to eat the food from the reception?"

"There's plenty of people there. I bet the food is gone by now." She plonked a ten dollar bill on the stand.

"You got it girlie," he said with a wink. She leaned against his stand, sighing.

She couldn't believe how painful it was to watch the man she once loved look at another woman the way she wished he would with her. It practically took all her resolve not to cry. It would be extremely easy to just dismiss Amy as a bitch and trash her to make herself feel better. But that wasn't the type of person Dani was. And she could not help but genuinely like Amy. And judging by the way they interracted, Dani knew Will had told her about all that happened between them. She felt a wave of anxiety wash over her when she realized that Amy might be questioning her integrity as a result of her past relationship with her husband. It made her sad. Did everyone think she was the kind of girl who would shamelessly steal someone's partner?

"Here's your 'dog." Sans brought her out of her slump of depressing thoughts. "And extra napkins so you don't gotta ruin that dress of yours."

"Thanks," she replied drily as she took a gigantic bite of her hot dog. "Good 'dog," she said and he thanked her. While she ate, there was naturally an awkward silence.

"So, what are human weddings like?" Sans asked, breaking the spell. Dani pondered on the question for a moment. She wiped her mouth then proceeded to answer his question.

"Well, there isn't a set type of wedding. You see humans are broken up into different categories based on beliefs, traditions and practices. These differences are so wonderful and it makes us all unique and we can learn so much. But a lot of us cannot accept what is different and what we do not know. So we tend to ostracize one another." She trailed off but shook her head and brought herself back on track. "Okay, so point being, we have different cultures. So these different cultures have different practices so the wedding ceremonies across the cultures vary. Get what I mean?" Sans nodded.

"That sounds pretty cool. What kind of wedding does the culture you're from have?" Dani laughed.

"Me? I haven't attended many weddings before but where I grew up, in Dain, I think the bride and groom hold hands and had flower petals of white roses thrown upon them. Then, I guess the parents of the bride and groom kind of verbally announce that they have their blessings and wish them well. Oh, and the bride and groom exchange rings to declare their eternal love for each other or something along those lines."

"Woah. Human traditions are so different from monster practices."

"How do monsters get married, then?"

Sans opened his mouth to respond, but the buzz of a cellphone interrupted him. Apparently it was Dani's and she pulled out her phone to reveal a text from Owen.

Owen: _Hey, where are you? Jake and I are looking for you._

Dani quickly typed out a response.

Dani: _I was talking to a friend. Give me a sec, yeah?_  
Owen: _Okay._

She set her phone into her wristlet and gave Sans an apologetic look.

"Hey, I'm so sorry but I have to go. I'll see you later."

"Okay girlie." She gave him a quick wave and headed off quickly. He watched her receding back for a moment and pondered on her statement about humans not being able to accept what was different and what they didn't know. If they couldn't accept people of their own race, it explained why many treated monsters the way they did. It was interesting, human behaviour. But he did not have time to ponder about the subject any longer as he had to tend to a customer...

 

* * *

 

"I'm so sorry I ran into a friend, I wasn't ditching the reception I swear!" Will, Jake and Owen laughed at how flustered Dani was.

"It's cool, don't worry about it," Will assured her and she relaxed a little. Owen turned to her.

"Mr Malloy asked us if we'd like to leave early if we felt awkward here. Do you wanna get going?"

"You sure you're okay with that?" She enquired and Will nodded.

"Absolutely! I don't mind at all. Anyway thanks guys for coming today. It means a lot to me. Jake," Will turned to the young man. "It was so nice to meet you. I expect you to take good care of Owen because he's gem. Got it?" Jake nodded.

"Good." Will seemed satisfied. "We'll catch up soon alright? See you guys." 

He turned to Dani and his eyes were soft. "See you too, Dani." He stepped forward and wrapped her in an embrace. She froze for a moment and gladly returned it. "Take care, okay?" He whispered.

"Okay," she whispered back. He let her go and stepped back. Amy joined him and they waved the three of them off.

As Dani walked away she thought to herself, ' _If you love somebody_ , _let them go.'_

_I'll let you go, Will. I've accepted the fact once. Why can't I accept it again. I'll let you go, Will. I'll let you go.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you've enjoyed this chapter! I'll see you in the next one! Feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting references I make in my fics, informing you of new chapter updates and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/
> 
> Also, I made a reference to Taylor Swift's song called speak now. The link to it can be found on my tumblr and also here it is: https://youtu.be/zOsRd6xGX6Y
> 
> -Vodka_martini


	20. The fashion culture shoot

"Wait, so Alphys initially built you as a human eradication robot?" Dani asked in disbelief. Mettaton nodded. "Why?"

"Something happened and Asgore declared war on all of humanity or whatever," Mettaton drawled lazily, as though he was completely uninterested in the details.

Dani was sitting in a café with Mettaton. She arranged a meeting with him to discuss another photoshoot arrangement. As she was trying to satisfy the fashion culture aspect of her course, she had brain stormed several ideas in the last while and was eager to share them with him. But first, she wanted to get to know him as an individual in order to give the photoshoot a more authentic feel to it. So she was extremely surprised to learn that Mettaton started as a robot that was required to kill all humans that fell into the underground. But it was fascinating, as Mettaton adores and was adored by humans. So Dani had an inkling of an idea.

"Say, if you were once a human eradication robot wouldn't you have had some battle or combat features?"

"Yes..." Mettaton looked at her curiously, wondering where she wwas going with her train of that.

"Right, so you would look threatening-ish. That means is there a possibility that we could use your battle form in the shoot while having you surrounded with other humans but where you aren't fighting? Like a parley scene?"

"So then it'll look like there is peace between humans and monsters," Mettaton said with understanding. He started to get excited. "But you said you wanted it to relate to fashion? How do we incorporate fashion into the shoot?"

"It doesn't necessarily have to directly imply fashion. Fashion depicts trends and stuff and you are a star so you can sort of pave the way for others you know?" Mettaton stared at her blankly and she sighed.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just have to give the rationale when I do my written assignment after the shoot. You'll be fine." Mettaton seemed to be a little more reassured.

The rest of the afternoon was basically sorting out the necessary requirements. Mettaton was going to be the one contacting several of his collegues for the shoot and Alphys while Dani took care of the other things that were necessary for the shoot. They then disbanded and agreed for a meeting in two weeks time.

 

* * *

 

Dani was just about done with the finishing touches of the set when the doors of the studio flew open and in barged Mettaton with a slew of beautiful humans trailing him.

"Dani darling! I am so excited to see what you have in store for us today! My friends," Mettaton turned towards his company and swept his arm towards her. "This is the lovely Danielle Ross, whom I was telling you about earlier. She is on the verge of attaining her... err," he turned to her and whispered sharply, "what degree?"

"Bachelor of Fine Arts," she whispered and he nodded.

"Bachelor of Fine Arts!" He proclaimed. One of them stepped forward.

"Hi," he said brightly. "Mettaton has told us so much about you and was literally singing praises!" She thanked him graciously. Another woman spoke up.

"Yes I was incredibly skeptical about working with a student. I mean, the only reason you have connections with Mettaton is through his friends and not your merits." Dani's face fell and her blood turned to ice. Everyone was acutely aware of her hurt expression. Before they could chastise the woman she held out a hand.

"But, Mettaton showed me the pictures you had taken of him during your previous photoshoot of him and I was mighty impressed. You were extremely innovative with the approach you had taken and I believe that you will do a great job today." There were murmurs of agreement and Dani smiled sheepishly and waved their compliments away.

"Alright, so can I tell you guys what my vision is?" They nodded and Dani proceeded with her explanation. "Right so take a look around the studio," she instructed. They proceeded to do so.

Dani had basically booked her college's photography studio for the day. It was a simple room with white walls and white floors. There were bright lights hanging about the ceiling and two large and wide windows, keeping the room bright and airy. It also had a convenient changing room, ladders and shelf space for extra equipment and makeup.

But what was extremely interesting was the backdrop Dani had set up. She had pulled up a black sheet with the hippie kind of peace symbol spray painted in white towards the top of it. They had all percieved it to be interesting.

"So I am going to take a minimalist approach to this. You're all going to be standing against that black backdrop. And everyone other than Mettaton is going to be wearing a simple white robe to contrast against the black backdrop. And I managed to borrow a couple of antique weapons like swords, spears, knives, shields so that they can be at your feet while you're all just staring straight at the camera. Sound good?" The models and Mettaton started to get excited. They really appreciated Dani's vision and it sounded extremely unique and powerful. "So why don't you guys grab your robes while I'll starting prepping the equipment. There's also makeup, combs and hairspray and oil on the shelves if you need it. Sound good?"

The models proceeded to get themselves ready while Dani opened up a ladder and started fixing up the lights. As she was moving about the room, she paused for a moment to talk to Mettaton. "Hey," she greeted and he gave her a dazzling smile.

"Oh Dani I absolutely love your vision. The white for peace against the darkness. I cannot! You are truly unique and wonderful." Dani accepted his compliment gracefully. She gave him a quick once over.

"Wow," she said in awe. "Is this your combat design?" Mettaton nodded sheepishly. His right forearm was replaced by a cannon, his shoulders were clad in pauldrons, and he had wings on his back. He had a heart shape engraved on his chest plate and his hair on the right side was spiked out which revealed an entirely black segment of his face, with a crosshair in place of his right eye. He looked a combination of beautiful, deadly and dangerous.

"Alphys truly is brilliant. Just looking at you, wow." He blushed, somehow, at her compliment.

"Thank you darling! You are too kind. But I would have to ask: since you are having weapons scattered across our feet, how will I contribute with my... features since most of them are built in." Dani hummed thoughtfully.

"I think I have an idea. We could maybe have you take off the pauldrons that you are wearing and put them on the ground. Then you could maybe fold your wings and keep your cannon arm down. Is that possible of you?" Mettaton's eyes lit up.

"Yes! Oh yes that is brilliant. It is no problem. Good idea, Dani." She left Mettaton to his armour meddling while she sorted the lights.

She had two main lights with diffusers at the sides while she had several hairlights with snoots positioned behind the heads of the models. She made sure to position the lights with extreme precision as lighting was crucial with that particular shoot. The hairlights were meant to light the models' hair so that the background can be separated from them. The diffusers on the main lights were supposed soften the light so that the shadows did not appear too harsh.

When she was done connecting her camera to the studio lights , the models and Mettaton were ready as well. That was when the shoot had commenced.

The models and Mettaton were extremely professional and experienced. They seemed to understand Dani's vision perfectly and were extremely cooperative when she issued orders on what they should do next or how they should pose. They even gave her suggestions on what they could possibly do which she accepted gladly. There was only so much creativity within her brain and any new ideas were always welcome.

"All right chins up a little."

"Dude over there! Mind standing a little straighter! Yup perfect." 

"And hey, you could you maybe tilt your head down a little?"

Those were the kinds of orders she delivered. And all too soon, it was over. The next studio user basically told them to get out and they followed obediently.

"Thank you so much for joining me today," she thanked them sincerely. The models and Mettaton assured her that it was no problem and that they enjoyed the shoot.

So after a hug from Mettaton and bids goodbye, Dani headed her way home; dreading the essay that proceeded the shoot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry if the update has been a little late and if the chapter of the photoshoot had been boring but it was necessary to set the scene for the next chapter. I just wanted to point that out if any of you were disappointed and were slightly bored by this chapter. Also, I am a student with an extremely rigorous curriculum (also known as the IBDP Program) which has been extremely stressful and I have important assignments which consist of my final FINAL grade due in a month and I have more than one so like I am not entirely sure if my updates may be regular and if my work will be of the same quality is usually is. So yeah I just wanted to give you a heads up if you were unsatisfied or disappointed in my work, and in turn, me. So I will see you in the next one! Byeeeee xx
> 
> -Vodka_martini


	21. War, peace and fashion.docx

Fashion has always had a reputation for being superficial and shallow. While "fashion" generally means clothing, including it's study, the fashion industry is primarily linked to appearances. The common idea is that fashion is the cause for the desire to conform to current trends, norms and styles in order to satisfy the sociocultural aspect of psychology that human beings are social animals with a basic need to belong. 

We wear our hat backwards because Justin Bieber is doing it. Taylor Swift rocks that red lipstick so we follow suit. Kylie Jenner's lips are big and plump, so we fix our lips to a shotglass. Michelle Obama's _Let's Move!_ program inspires us to eat kale chips and get our bodies moving. Chris Evans's beard makes us want to chop wood like a lumberjack. Kate Middleton's signature wavy blowout has us running to the nearest hair salon. What do those statements have in common? 

Influential figures. Popular figures. Celebrities. You cannot deny that these people have a unique sort of power. But imagine if that power, was to influence an individual's virtues? That is why, beyond the aesthetics and the beauty and the glamour, fashion culture is extremely important. 

Fashion culture and influential figures can actually alter our perception and thinking. A good example of this is the desired body types throughout history. During the 1950s when Marilyn Monroe was Hollywood's Golden Girl and Sex Icon, the bodies that the women craved were in her like. The desired features were: curves, an hourglass figure, large breasts and slim waists. And in the 1990s when Kate Moss was the prime representative of the "heroin chic" fashion trend, the desirable qualities in her likeness were: waifish and androgynous figures, emaciated features, translucent skin and dark circles underneath the eyes. These women, during their time in their fashion prime had caused women and girls all over the world to feel inadequate of their bodies and men and boys all over the world to develop a particular sexual preference. Their perceptions and ideals were influcenced by fashion figures that were in the limelight. But what if, we introduce a figure to rid prejudice?

Therefore, let us meet Mettaton. Initially created as a human eradication robot, Mettaton has now taken the role as an upcoming fashion icon and representative of the monster species in the media. He has black hair with a long fringe, pale "skin," and visible metal segments below and above his left eye. He has a volatile presense which extend to game shows, cooking shows, the news, musicals and many more. If you've kept up with the news with from last year on, then you will be aware of the emergence of Monsters from the Underground beneath Mount Ebott. Lost from our history books, humans and monsters had ruled the earth together. A war ensued, whereby us humans had banished the monsters underground. Now, they have returned and are now living among the human citizens of Ebott.

But then, us humans are interesting creatures. We are extremely intelligent, hence why we vainly named our taxonomic classification ' _Homo sapiens_ ' which in latin means 'wise man'. We also have another interesting characteristic. From his book The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas had said, "remember that two-legged tigers and crocodiles are more dangerous than those that walk on four". Would you like to guess whom the two-legged tigers and crocodiles are? That's right. They are humans. We have dissected ourselves into different categories based on beliefs, traditions and practices. These differences can make us all unique and give us the opportunity to learn new things. But a lot of us cannot accept what is different and what we do not know. So we tend to ostracize one another. And our treatment towards Monsters are no different. There have been reported to numerous crimes towards monsters, and any human positively affiliated with them. This deep set prejudice within many humans has been in our blood for centuries after centuries. But not ALL humans. There still exists open-minded individuals in our society. Humanity is not entirely a lost cause. It is possible to change individuals' perception on Monsters. We can achieve this through fashion and the medium of photography. I attempt to explore this possibility through my photoshoot in which I engage the pathway of fashion culture in Contextualization.

The setting of my photoshoot involved the models and Mettaton standing against a black backdrop with a peace symbol haphazardly spray painted in white. And the human models wore simple white robes to contrast the black backdrop while Mettaton had taken upon his combat oriented design for the shoot. There were an array of various weapons scattered at the models' feet, as well as Mettaton's pauldrons. He had also laid his right forearm, that was a cannon, by his side.

The rationale behind the wardrobe, cast and setting is justified by the vision of peace I attempted to capture via the photos. The white of the models' robes and the peace symbol were used as a device to represent the new beginnings, as stated by colour psychology. By implying new beginnings, I wanted to emphasize the idea of putting the war between Humans and Monsters behind, thus allowing both races to unify. The weapons at the feet of the models and Mettaton were used to symbolize the refusal of violence. 

In conclusion, I interracted with the Fashion Culture aspect of Contextualization through the use of a fashion icon in relation to the alteration in perceptions that is caused by fashion culture in order to communicate the idea of peace and unity between the two races that are Monsters and Humans.


	22. Just girl stuff

Dani was so close to graduating, she could just taste it. Her professor approved greatly of her written assignment and essay on fashion culture. He told her to keep it up and focus on one more area of contextualization of her course and she would be ready to get her degree. She was a little blank but she knew she could come up with something or the other for the shoot eventually. For now, she was preparing to have a sleepover with Undyne and Alphys. She figured she was in for a movie marathon of some sort, perhaps Mettaton's works as they did offer her to show her some of his works. But still, the opportunities were endless so she pretty much headed to Undyne and Alphys's shared house in her pajamas with a coat over it and an overnight bag. She was lazy anyhow so she's didn't mind the stares that came her way. The door flew open before her knuckles had even left it.

"Heya punk!" Undyne pulled her into a hug and gave her a noogie. Dani laughed and hugged her back.

"Hey Alphys!" She called out cheerfully and she waved back shyly. Undyne practically dragged her onto the couch and threw her on it. Alphys and Undyne sat on either side of her.

"So what are we doing today?" Dani asked and Alphys and Undyne exchanged looks.

"U-um I know we told you last time we were gonna show you some of Mettaton's stuff but the thing is we've watched it a million times sin-since it's the only source of entertainment in the Underground."

"Yeah, nerd! We love Mettaton and all but we're kind of bored of his stuff, don't ever tell him that, but can you pick out a movie for us?" The couple looked slightly sheepish at their request and Dani laughed.

"That's totally cool with me! I got a feel of what Mettaton's like when I see him appear on T.V. once in a while. Alright, what is there that we can watch?" She mused. She went onto an _on demand_ channel and scrolled through the list of movies there. Then, something caught her eye.

"Ooh Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland! I love that movie."

"What's it about?" They asked her and Dani had no problem going on about it.

"It's basically about this girl called  Alice who is different and a rebel against society. Then she randomly sees a rabbit wearing a blue waistcoat and accidentally falls into a large rabbit hole under a tree. She emerges in a forest in a weird land called Underland. Then she's told that she can bring back the exiled and good White Queen to her throne, with the help of someone called the Mad Hatter. They say she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, a dragon sort of creature that's controlled by the evil Red Queen and terrorizes Underland's inhabitants." Undyne and Alphys shared excited looks and practically begged her to put it on. Dani was more than happy to oblige. She hadn't watched that film in a long while so it was pretty much a win win. Turns out, Undyne and Alphys _loved_ the movie.

"T-that's just like how Frisk came into the Underground!" Alphys remarked when Alice had fallen into the rabbit hole.

It seemed they thoroughly enjoyed the movie. They laughed hard when they saw the Red Queen use a pig as a footrest. They gasped when Alice used the heads of the Red Queen's victims to cross the bog. They seemed to fall in love with the Mad Hatter as much Dani did when she first watched the film. 

"That cake looks delicious," Undyne remarked at the cake that had shrunk and grown Alice. 

They were practically on the edge of their seats when the final battle with the Jabberwocky had commenced and cheered when Alice emerged victorious and the White Queen was crowned. They were almost emotionally spent when the credits rolled as Avril Lavigne's Alice played.

"I-is there a sequel?" Undyne echoed Alphys's question and Dani laughed.

"Yeah there is. It's called Alice Through The Looking Glass but it's not on the channel."

The two of them looked thoroughly disappointed. But Undyne had a suggestion that removed the emotion completely. "Hey what if we watch this one again but with Papyrus, Frisk and them and then we can watch the second one directly after?"

The Monster couple began to chat excitedly about the prospect of the movie marathon while Dani observed them and smiled. Their excitement was contagious. They then realized her presence in the room.

"Oh Dani, do you wa-want to join us as-as well?" Alphys seemed a little sheepish about not sharing the excitement with her but Dani waved her off.

"It might be a special thing between the group of you. I don't want to intrude." Undyne punched her on the shoulder with that statement.

"Oww," she complained while Undyne rolled her eyes.

"What are you talkin' about nerd of course you won't be intruding. We love hanging out with you and have no complaints if you ever choose to hang out with us!"

"Yeah and you're one of the nicest humans ever," Alphys added shyly. Dani's cheeks warmed.

"I'm alright guys, you think too much of me."

"No she's not kidding, you really are one of the nicest humans ever." Undyne spun Dani around to look her straight in the eyes. Her piercing gaze had Dani a little uneasy. "You've helped Frisk from getting beaten up by a couple of thugs and then you stood up for them when they were being bullied. That takes guts, punk."

"You forget that I have flaws," Dani included. "I'm quick tempered and am not afraid to punch people in the face. I swear a lot and I've aban-"

She stopped her sentence there. She was about to say, ' _I've abandoned my father_.'

"The good outweighs the bad. We think you're awesome. Everyone has flaws. We know you do. That doesn't change the fact that you're super nice." Alphys spoke with absolute conviction.

"Yeah and Papyrus gets so giddy when he finds you joining us or even running into you on the street." Undyne emphasized the point with another punch on the shoulder.

"Papyrus loves everyone though, your point is irrelevant," Dani countered and the three girls laughed.

"True," Undyne conceded and She leaned back into the couch satisfied.

They heard a vibration sound and Undyne found it was her phone. She pulled it out to find a selfie from Papyrus with Sans sleeping upside down with the caption, "LAZYBONES IS NAPPING UPSIDE DOWN! HE IS TOO LAZY TO RIGHT HIMSELF! WHAT SHALL I DO WITH MY BROTHER?!"

"What can you do with him?" Dani asked between breathless laughter. Undyne snorted.

"You can't do anything with that nerd! His laziness knows no bounds. Back when he worked as a sentry in the Underground watching out for Humans, I was always catching him slacking off, or sleeping... But his results were JUST good enough to not fire him. JUST scraping by the bare minimum every time... I guess it's kind of impressive...?" Dani chuckled.

"Definitely impressive. Kudos to him."

"I'm not even sure why people hire him when all he does is slack off."

"Hey that's not true!" Alphys cried indignantly. "I wor- worked with him while we were doing research lab work. When he loves and is passionate about something, trust me he gives his all. He- he loves Papyrus so much you can see the extents he takes to make him happy and protect him. He's a good guy."

Dani's laughter faded. She remembered the incident of him twisting her wrist when she wasn't having it. "Yeah, a good guy..." She turned away from the two monsters and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Undyne asked, sounding concerned.

"I know all about Sans's love for Papyrus, trust me," she said bitterly. "Once, when I was having a bad day I was just sitting in the park. Papyruscame over to me and asked me to have spaghetti with him and I tried to say no but he dragged me off and finally I screamed at him to stop and he did. I told him I didn't want to anything with him and was such a bitch to him. But he looked so hurt that I tried to correct myself saying that I'll see him next week. And he was happy after that. Then after that, as I was leaving, Sans came over to me and was like 'don't talk to my brother that way' and I was like mind your own business and that's when grabbed my wrist said since it was his brother he couldn't and that I had no right to throw shit at him. And then I told him I didn't care and that Papyrus should have taken the hint that I wasn't interested. Then he twisted my wrist and told me to check my attitude before I go around ruining people's day."

Undyne and Alphys winced at the story. "That- That does sound like something  Sans would do," Alphys remarked nervously.

"Nerd nearly broke your back and your wrist. Wow." Undyne said in disbelief. Dani pursed her lips and nodded. Alphys took her hands and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Hey, I know you and Sans have some friction but let me assure you: he IS a good guy. He might have hurt you but trust me, you haven't met the best person he can be. Not many have. But when you see him in his element, he can be inredible." Dani felt a little unsure but she decided to trust her.

"Hey I have an idea!" Undyne cried. "How about we take a selfie and post it on UnderNet to show we hung out today!" 

Dani was all for it but throughout the process and the rest of the night, her mind could not help wandering back to Sans. Throughout the past while, she had got to know him a lot better and found that he wasn't so bad and was actually kind of nice. But he was still a wild card and Dani with her high guard wasn't so sure if she could share the same opinion of him as Alphys did. Frankly, she had no problem trusting the others like Papyrus, Undyne, Asgore, Toriel, Frisk and Alphys. They were open books. Every part of them was laid out from the get go. Granted, they did have their limits practically everyone did. They exhibited caution as well but they were not unpredictable. Sans was.

Dani had been hurt before. A lot. She had not known who to trust for most of teenage life. Her mom left her when she was fourteen. Her dad turned into an abusive alcoholic when she was sixteen. Her teacher and friend rejected her when she was eighteen. So how could she trust a wild card? She figured she would remain friends with him, but the idea of anything deeper than that terrified her.

'Life was hard when you were hurt more than once,' Dani thought to herself glumly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow what seems like a short chapter after a one and a half long hiatus seems cheap right? ;-; I am so sorry guys like deadlines popping up and important assessments for my diploma and other writing commitments ahhh I am so sorry like it was all messy and I am pressed for time. Sigh. Life of a student and a fanfic writer. It's tough. (Okay VM stop making excuses just shut up GOD) 
> 
> Point being, I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter and I will see you in the next one! If you would like to send me fanart or questions in regards to any of my fics, feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting references I make in my fics, informing you of new chapter updates and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/
> 
> -Vodka_martini


	23. Social engagement

It was the last bit of the course she needed to complete and then, she would finally graduate and enter the adult world with her BFA degree in hand. She was so excited. Almost all of her credits were acquired, with the exception of her Social Engagement in the part of Contextualization. She looked back at the word document where she jotted her initial ideas for the Social Engagement shoot and written assignment.

 **Social engagement:**  
**•Monsters.**  
**•Learn their history and use it for written assignment.**  
• **Arrange photoshoot.**

She knew she had a pretty decent idea on what she wanted to do and execute in regards to social engagement and the rationalization of the use of monsters. However, she wasn't exactly sure what sort of photoshoot she wanted to conduct or what it was going to consist of. Monsters, that much she knew but other than that she had nothing.

She sighed and closed her laptop. She heard her phone vibrate and found a text from Jake inviting her to catch a movie with Owen and himself. She accepted the offer immediately and proceeded to change.

"You know," Owen started while they were eating dinner together. "I think you should introduce us to your monster friends." Dani was stirring her drink absentmindedly, paying no attention to him. Owen repeated his statement a little louder but he still had no response from her. He sighed and elbowed her in the ribs. She let out a yelp of pain.

"What the fuck dude that hurts."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Sorry buddy I was out of it for a second." Owen's eyes softened.

"Social engagement?"

"Yup. I'm in such a mental block I have no idea what I'm gonna do it on."

"Hey D," Jake interjected. "We took you out tonight to get your mind off of it. So let's listen to Owen's salt instead." Her brows furrowed in confusion.

"What's he salty about?"

"Well you would know if you'd listened to me, wouldn't you." He huffed annoyedly but he was smiling.

"He basically wants you to introduce him to Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus and them because he feels like he's left out." Jake was grinning as Owen turned red at the vocalization of his feelings. Dani laughed.

"Aww buddy where did this come from?"

"Well, it's just Jake has been telling me funny stories that Undyne had told him about the gang and then you telling us about your outings and stuff and I just feel deprived and out of the loop, you know?" Owen hung his head sheepishly. "It's so stupid, I know." Dani wrapped her arm around his shoulder and shook him gently.

"Hey, don't feel bad. I get where you're coming from. I'll talk to them about it."

"Promise?" He asked hopefully.

"I promise." She held out her pinky to him and he wrapped his own around it.

"Wait a second, that gives me an idea for your social engagement photoshoot," Jake said suddenly and Dani's head shot towards him curiously.

"What is it?"

"Well, Owen and I encountering and hanging out and spending time with Monsters could be, like, representing the integration of the two races peacefully, you know? I mean you kind of did something like that for your fashion culture project, why not keep up the same theme?"

Dani processed his words slowly, possibilities forming and swirling in her head. She squealed and clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh my gosh, Jake, that sounds absolutely wonderful. It's perfect. Damn I could kiss you right now."

"Okay back the fuck up bitch, he's mine."

"Sorry," Dani apologized with a grin. Her mind listed out the potential problems with the idea but she decided to quell them so she could enjoy the rest of the evening with her best friends. Her mood had brightened up considerably and the boys felt happier now that she was feeling better.

 

* * *

 

"TALLER HUMAN! I AM INCREDIBLY EXCITED TO MEET YOUR BOYFRIENDS!" Dani groaned. Practically all of the monsters and Frisk had addressed Owen and Jake as her boyfriends. She grew tired of correcting them so she accepted the term with the logic of they are her friends who are boys; so hence they are actually her boyfriends. She was incredibly nervous for the shoot. She didn't tell them that she would be photographing them so that they wouldn't attempt to pose or act for the camera. Hence instead of using the camera her mother had left behind, she purchased a wildlife camera designed to take pictures of wild animals. However, it had the unique feature of having a timer which can allow it to take photos at certain time intervals. It was also a camouflage pattern which was inconspicuous. As she climbed up and down Mount Ebott often with Jake and Owen and on her own, she showed them a flat spot on the mountain which seemed perfect for a picnic and she placed her camera a far ways from their picnic spot.

"I'm excited to meet this Owen nerd. Jake won't shut up about him so I want to see what the hype is all about."

"The hype is totally real," Dani assured Undyne with a grin. Owen was one of those individuals whom everyone would fall in love with instantly because he was so damn charming and lovely. He was extremely sociable. But when he bore a grudge against someone for any reason, he was ruthless. He was pretty much a mega-bitch. There was no other way of putting it. That was one of the reasons why she was a little nervous to have him meet the monster gang and Frisk, because he would have to encounter Sans. She and him were pretty cool and she had told Owen and Jake about his good moments with her but still, the fact that he hurt her made the two of them extremely wary.

Dani felt a tug on her shirt and found Frisk to be waving the tablet in their hands violently, trying to grab her attention.

 **'Do you think they will like me?'** They were bouncing up on their feet eagerly waiting for their answer.

"No," Dani said flatly. Frisk's face fell and a hurt expression crossed their face. The other monsters looked shocked.

"No," she repeated. "They won't like you. They'll _love_ you." She picked Frisk up and spun them around in a circle which had them squeal in glee. Footsteps were heard and she saw her two friends approach. A huge smile broke out on her face and she waved wildly. They picked up the pace and joined the group.

"Hey everyone. This is Owen and Jake. Undyne you are familiar with Jake but say hi guys." They greeted them and Dani beamed like a proud parent. She introduced all the monsters to them. "This is Asgore, Toriel, Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus, Mettaton, Sans, Frisk and we are joined by monster kid as well." Monster kid waved shyly.

"Hey guys. Frisk invited me to meet you guys today. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course we don't," Owen responded sincerely.

"How about we start to eat? I made some pie." Toriel suggested and Dani seconded her.

"I brought my lasgna too." Owen and Jake freaked out. The monsters and Frisk jumped back a little, surprised.

"Sorry it's just Dani's lasgna is to die for. Like, seriously. It is freaking amazing. It's her dad's recipe." Dani pursed her lips while everyone grew excited at the thought and the feast had begun.

 

* * *

 

Laughter ensued within the group. "Darlings, you are too hilarious. Stop," Mettaton gushed to Owen and Jake. They were hits to the monsters and Frisk. Jake was able to carry out intellectual and serious conversations whilst being able to discuss fashion with Mettaton. Owen excitedly discussed books with Toriel and Undyne. He was great with kids so he was adored by Monster kid and Frisk. However, both guys got along very well with the skelebros. Owen and Jake were initially extremely wary of Sans but after getting to know him, they warmed up to him. As always, Papyrus was a sweetheart and they loved him. They loved Dani's lasgna too.

"TALLER HUMAN DANI! I MUST SAY THIS ODD LOOKING PASTA IS DELIGHTFUL! YOU MUST TEACH ME THE MAGIC OF THIS ART AND I SHALL EXCEL AT IT AS WELL!"

"Sure Papyrus," she replied with a laugh.

"You gotta teach me too nerd!"

"And I as well."

She assured Toriel that she would and they were happy.

Dani kept glancing back to where her camera was hidden, hoping that she was able to have caught some good shots. She noticed Sans observing where her line of sight was heading. "Watcha lookin' at?"

"Squirrel," she said simply, pretending to crane her neck.

"What's so fascinating about a squirrel?"

"It was carrying a nut and it looked funny." He stared at her oddly.

"Hey Jake," Monster kid started.

"Yeah?" He knelt down to face the child.

"Are you stronger than Undyne?" He poked at his bicep and Dani was looking forward to his answer. It was likely to be positive and she knew Undyne's reaction would be wonderful.

"Of course I am."

"EXCUSE ME?!" The fish woman screeched. Owen and Alphys shot each other worried looks, wondering if their lovers were going to both go to hospital in the near future.

"Oh yeah? Look how high I can toss up MK here." Without warning, he grabbed Monster Kid by the waist and tossed him up in the air. Monster Kid screamed in fear but Jake caught him with ease. Monster Kid let out breathless laughter knowing he was safe. Undyne scoffed.

"That's nothing, punk. Look how high I can toss Frisk." She grabbed Frisk by the waist and Dani noticed Toriel catch her breath. She heard Sans whisper to her, "don't worry 'bout it, I can catch em."

She remembered Sans had that crazy telekinesis thing going about him when he threw her against that wall. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the memory and observed the scene before her. Undyne managed to toss Frisk up a little higher than Jake. "Take that nerd," she said triumphantly. Jake rolled his eyes.

"I ain't done yet, gills." Dani raised her eyebrows at the nickname. It seemed to egg Undyne on and that proceeded a tossing competition of the kids. The kids themselves seemed to be having the time of their lives while the rest of them were laughing at the antics of the two gym rats. The entire company displayed grins and wide smiles. Dani glanced back at her camera and knew she was definitely going to get decent shots out of their outing.

All too soon, their outing came to end.

"It was a pleasure to meet you both," Asgore told Jake and Owen whilst giving them each a firm handshake.

"Same goes to you. All of you." Owen smiled at all the monsters and Dani found herself beaming and overjoyed that her friends were so well received.

"TALLER HUMAN'S BOYFRIENDS!" Dani mentally facepalmed while Owen and Jake shot her amused glances.

"Yeah Papyrus?" Jake responded and he cleared his throat dramatically.

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BESTOW UPON YOU THE HONOUR OF HANGING OUT AT MY HOUSE!" Sans coughed. "TECHNICALLY SANS'S HOUSE AS WELL BUT I LOOK FORWARD IT!"

Jake and Owen responded that they would like that very much and they split up their separate ways. Dani scooped up her tiny camera and headed on home. With the exhaustion of socialization, she tossed her stuff on her beat up couch and collapsed on her bed and knocked out almost immediately.

 

* * *

 

She almost forgot about the wilderness camera until the coffee expunged the sleep from her eyes. She spotted it on her couch and dove for it, frantically pulling out the SD card and bringing it to her laptop. She scrolled through the photos collected and smiled. There were so many lovely shots of the boys interacting with Frisk and the monsters while they looked full of joy and at peace. But one photo stood out the most. One shot, as soon as she looked at it, she knew that was the one she was going to use for her social engagement task.

It was a shot of Frisk and Monster kid in the air, with Undyne's arms stretched under Frisk while Jake was in a position similar to Undyne's but with Monster Kid. Frisk and Monster Kid had their eyes shut tight but their mouths were grinning. The other monsters, Dani and Owen were caught laughing and smiling.

It just showed unity between humans and monsters. A human child trusting a Monster to catch them and same went for a Monster child. Trust. Unity. Faith. That was what that image captured. All rounded happiness and no hatred. That was how it should be.

Dani sat in front of her laptop and opened up Microsoft word, ready to tackle on her written assignment and then, receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts for photography.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! Oh man It has been 2 months since I had last updated and I apologize dearly. SChool and life had me in its claws and ugh it was awful :[ But anyhow I think I can pick up writing a little more consistently from here on out because I am sort of sorting out my life (barely).
> 
> Before I go off on a tangent, I wanted to share with you guys that I had commissioned one of my dear friends to do an art piece on our lovely Danielle Ross! She is incredible I highly recommend you to follow her on Instagram which is where she posts all her pieces. She goes by the username @dizzydivvy on instagram and here is a link to her Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/dizzydivvy/?hl=en
> 
> Also if you would like to take a look at this piece she had done, here is a link to it on my tumblr account: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/post/158706335453/commission-of-danielle-ross-from-he-was-just-one
> 
> And lastly, if you would like to send me fanart or questions in regards to any of my fics, feel free to follow my tumblr account specifically created for posting references I make in my fics, informing you of new chapter updates and Undertale randomness: http://vodka-martini-blog.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> That's it from me! I'll see ya'll in a bit <3
> 
> -Vodka_martini


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